Culmination
by Molossus5572
Summary: Human beings have defined their nature through faith, love...and War. The Teen Titans know that the next battle is just on the horizon, and if they can not stop it, the human race will again be defined by war: for it will be its last. RBB, SFR.
1. Impact

Culmination

**Chap. 1: Impact**

"Cannon-ball!"

The silhouette of a small, green teenager descended towards the crystal clear waters of Jump City Bay. The young masked man standing beneath the silhouette had very little time to react.

"BeastBoy, no! Stop! What're you-?" But it was too late.

**PLOOSH! **

Robin lowered his raised arms, as a tiny, barely visible wave rippled over his chest. The 'cannon-ball' was less explosive than he had anticipated. The boy wonder smirked at the now drenched shape-shifter, his soaked hair covering his eyes.

"Ha! You call that a cannon-ball? Trout make a bigger splash than that!" He chided his companion.

BeastBoy gritted his teeth as he whipped his hair out of his face. "Oh, be quiet."

A thunderous yell came from the shore. "WEAK! That was _so _WEAK!"

BB turned to glare at his half metallic teammate on the bank of Titans Island. "Oh yeah, Cyborg? I'd like to see you do better!"

The bionic bruiser tilted his head, reflecting the glaring sun off of his alloyed forehead, and smiled. "Alright. I will."

With that, Cyborg charged the waves, the vibrations from his footsteps shaking the bedrock beneath the water, and Robin and BeastBoys feet. Both teens struggled to run away from the blast radius.

Robin turned back just in time to see Cyborg propel himself nearly twenty feet into the air with his powerful hydraulically-enhanced legs.

"Look out below!" Cyborg shouted in glee, just before his 400 plus pounds struck the water.

Some distance away, floating upon an inflatable lounge raft, a certain orange haired princess was attempting to sun herself in the constant, unrelenting rays of the afternoon sun. Although the heat was intense, the sun was a primary source of her power, and she was enjoying herself immensely. She had been dieing to try on her new purple polka-dot bikini anyway. The afternoon was going perfectly so far.

That is, until a sizable six foot wave, and one screaming Robin, interrupted her sun-bathing.

"Starfire! Look out!" Robin said, in midair.

Starfire managed to get out one surprised 'EEP!' her eyes the size of Frisbee's, before her team leader dropped upon her, along with a few hundred gallons of water.

Starfire resurfaced, spitting seawater from her mouth, with a very puzzled expression on her face. She swam quickly over to the free floating form of Robin some feet away.

"Robin! Why did you cause the sea to throw you? Have you angered it in some way? What happened?" Starfire asked the very still Robin.

"I didn't, I haven't, and it was (Cough)…Cyborg."

BeastBoy was already giving said Cyborg a piece of his mind. "Are you nuts! You nearly sent me into orbit! That was so uncalled for!"

"Hey! You sent the challenge, little man! I just answered it." Cyborg said, smiling victoriously.

"I am confused." Starfire said, wringing the saltwater out of her hair. "The point of this activity is to see who can drown their companions first?"

"Uh…actually Starfire, the idea is to see who can make the biggest splash." Robin corrected, shaking the miscellaneous ocean debris from his hair.

"And I just SCHOOLED your butt in cannon-balls!" Cyborg cheered, mocking BeastBoy.

"OH! So, whoever creates the largest swell of ocean liquid by falling into the bay, is the winner?" Starfire asked excitedly, clasping her hands.

"Pretty Much." Robin said, smiling.

"Very well. Please, wait here!" Starfire said. With that, the Tamaranian princess levitated her drenched body out of the bay, into the air, and away into the afternoon sky.

"Hey, where'd Star go?" Cyborg asked.

Robin and BeastBoy looked into the cloudless horizon, but could not see any sign of Starfire, nor could they discern what she was up to.

A few puzzling seconds later, BB's ears perked up, as a low whistling sound could be heard, falling from above. Robin and Cyborg caught it a moment later, and looked towards the sounds direction.

The next thing the boys knew, the solar powerhouse known as Starfire came into view, making a nose dive for the glassy surface of the bay.

"WHEEEEEEE!" came her excited laughter, her face full of ecstatic glee.

"Uh-oh..." Said the three Titans. They didn't have time to say anything else, before Starfire struck the water.

A little over a hundred yards away, and about forty feet in the air, hovered the cloaked figure of Raven. As was her nature, she kept out of the direct sunlight, floating in the large shadow created by the massive Titans Tower. Her hood was up, shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun. But she could still see her friends some distance away. Although she did glance at them every so often, her mind and body were centered, and her mantra kept her concentration steady.

Be that as it may, distractions were still abundant. Such as the sizable wave that was now headed in her general direction, along with the lime green surfer caught in its crest.

"Raven! Look Out! Commin' through!" BeastBoy yelled, flailing his arms.

Ravens eyes went wide for a second, before she pushed herself higher into the air. The wave, and BeastBoy, passed beneath her. She watched her teammate be enveloped in the wall of water, before it met the wall of the tower with a loud **_WUMPF! _**

The wave continued over the rocky island surrounding the tower, eventually breaking as it met the water once more on the other side of the tower. The Titans home took the brunt of the man-made tsunami.

BeastBoy withstood a good deal of it as well. He was plastered against the steel of the tower, like a bug on a windshield. "Oi…anybody get the number of that bus?"

Raven gently fell towards her teammate, and grabbed him by the back of his head. She peeled him off of the baking steel, and set him on the rocky shore of the island. Apart from a flattened nose, he appeared to be okay.

"Aren't you supposed to say 'Surfs-up'?" Raven asked, her sarcasm punctuated by a raised eyebrow.

"He did," Cyborg said from behind them, as he reattached his hand component "But it came out as more of a 'WAHHHHH!'"

Raven glanced at Cy. He was limping around on one leg, trying to relocate several of his parts. His left arm was missing a shoulder plate, and his hip was missing a connector joint. His ride on Starfires wave must have been rough too.

Speaking of whom, the red-haired alien beauty was standing in a small fissure created by her cannon-ball. Robin was lying flat against the shore, but tilted his head up enough to look at the smiling young woman.

"I believe I win." Starfire said, her smile as wide as the horizon.

Despite the pain he was in, Robin couldn't help but smile. Starfire glowed when she was happy, and her smile always left him speechless. She found great happiness in the smallest activities, and her slight naivety just made her more adorable.

Robin sat up and stretched his sore limbs. He caught a glimpse of Starfire zipping across the water towards him, her face now crossed with concern. "Robin! You are…undamaged?"

"Yea, Star, I'm fine. But you're supposed to yell 'Cannon-ball' when you dive in." Robin said with a smile.

"Ah! I see. My apologies. Shall I attempt the ball of cannon once more?"

"NO!" came the resounding reply from all three male teens. If it were possible, BeastBoy became pale at mention of another wild ride on the Starfire Special.

Raven allowed herself a small smile when she saw the terror-stricken look on BeastBoys face. Her hood kept her countenance hidden, and she let her gaze linger for a moment. For all his faults, and for his even more frequent blunders, BeastBoy remained a good friend and an important member of the team.

'_He's important in other ways too…' _Her subconscious chided.

'_What is THAT supposed to mean?' _She asked the cryptic voice in her head. But she heard no response.

This had been happening for a while now. Often, as Raven meditated, she would find herself distracted, in one way or another, by the shape shifting elf. The most recent incident revolved around silky, tofu pancakes, a malfunction with the egg beater, and Ravens leotard. Just the memory made her shiver with disgust. She would never look at the stove the same way ever again.

Just after it happened, and after BeastBoys attempted apology, her mind began to feed her faint, somewhat awkward messages of admiration. Admiration, in one way or another, for BeastBoy.

At least, that's what she THOUGHT they were. She would have to meditate later to determine what her mind was trying to tell her.

She spoke to BB as he straightened himself out. "Are you OK?"

"That is probably the fastest and most painful way to loose weight ever created." BeastBoy said, flashing his famous smile. "But yea, still breathing."

"At least you had a chance to cool off." Raven said, indicating how hot the day was.

"No kidding. It must be a hundred and five out here." BeastBoy said, brushing the sweat from his green brow. "Aren't you _baking_ in that thing?"

Raven shook her solemn head. "Things like extreme heat and adverse weather can be focused upon, controlled, and ignored. I am comfortable."

"If you say so. But why not swim with us? Hmm? The water is cool, the breeze is warm, and the sun could fry me into a crispy asparagus sick. Why not put on a suit and jump in?" BB asked, his smile anxious and cheerful.

"I am NOT going swimming." Raven said sternly.

"You don't have to change. Your leotard would be plenty to keep you covered." BB encouraged.

"I am NOT swimming today BeastBoy." Raven said, her irritation rising with her as she levitated into the air.

BB put his fists on his hips, his own frustration with Raven increasing as well. "Well, if not today, then when?"

Wanting to end this, Raven said the first thing that came to mind. "When the sun falls from the sky."

BeastBoys ears drooped to the sides of head, and he turned away from Raven. He had only walked two feet, when he came upon Cyborg, with a perplexed look upon his face.

"You might want to rethink that statement, Raven." Cy said, his eyes wide with intrigue and concern.

"Why?" BeastBoy and Raven asked simultaneously, turning to Cyborg. But their teammate was looking beyond his companions, his gaze fixed on something above and behind them.

Both titans looked in the direction that Cy was, and saw what his eyes were fixed upon. Robin and Starfire, several yards away, turned their attention away from each other, and towards the sky.

Approximately three miles up, and traveling at maybe three thousand miles an hour or more, was a ball of yellow-white light. Its size was indeterminable, but as it passed over the island, its blazing light cast dark shadows from the tower, the city, and all five titans.

With a deafening roar, the ball passed across and beyond the bay, towards the western horizon, its light fading as it streaked away. A huge vapor trail was left in its wake, as if a 747 had just passed overhead.

"Not…ONE…word." Raven said before BeastBoy could chime in his obvious enthusiasm.

"Glorious!" Starfire beamed, hovering just above the ground in her damp bikini. "It shines like the nocturnal Tatricks of Photonia Prime!"

"It is amazing to look at, yes, but what is it?" Robin asked, always the skeptic. "And where did it come from?"

"Better question:" Raven answered. "Where is it going?"

"We're goin' to find out pretty soon." BeastBoy said. "It's about to land."

"How can you tell?" Cyborg asked, reconnecting his triceps control plate.

"Big ears, big hearing. I can faintly make out that roaring sound. It's about to touch down." BB said, flexing his large lobes. He cupped his now loved hands around the back of his head, and twitched the tip of his elf-like ears as if they were small, green radio antennae.

As if on cue, the bright orb vanished into the sea, and a staggering flash of light followed. A rather powerful, but faint explosion could be heard, along with ominous tremors that could be felt beneath the titans feet. Small, loose rocks skittered across the granite surface of the island, and the air fell still and dry.

"Why do I get the feeling that there is more to this than just a fancy light show?" Cyborg asked, his human skin growing Goosebumps.

BeastBoy immediately morphed into an Eagle, and flew into the air, beside Raven. He hovered for just a few seconds, his raptor eyes looking upon the shimmering sea. The sun was beginning to set, and his terrified human face was made all the more horrific by his frightened eyes and red light upon is skin.

"All I see is water." BeastBoy said shakily. "It's huge, and all water."

"It's the Ocean, BeastBoy. It's MADE of water." Raven said, exasperated.

"BB ain't foolin'." Cyborg said, adjusting the telescopic lens on his left eye.

"What do you mean?" Robin asked.

It was Cyborgs turn to look pale. "It's a wall. A wall of water."

"A wave of tidal?" Starfire asked, a human vocabulary word coming to her out of the blue.

"_Way_ bigger than anything I've ever seen or read about." Cyborg answered, the various sounds of electrical equipment clicking away in his body bringing a sterile feeling to the calm, hot air.

"E.T.A.?" Robin asked, pulling his outfit on over his trunks.

"Calculating." Cyborg said. A small laser shot out from his left eye, towards the still distant wave. Robin watched as the beam focused its intensity, and disappeared into the western horizon.

"Why is this large wave the cause of so much tension?" Starfire asked. She laid a hand upon Robin's shoulder, her eyes gazing at the setting sun, and at the ocean, looking for the cause of all the tension in her friends.

A small beep could be heard from Cyborgs skull component. "Because it's headed towards the city, and it's over two-hundred feet tall."

Everyone became really quite after that. Raven didn't know what to say, BeastBoy felt faint, and Robin was rubbing his temples, deep in thought.

All Starfire could say, as her smile disappeared, was "Oh."

"Looks like Star may have some competition in that whole 'cannon-ball' championship thingy." BeastBoy muttered, cringing at Ravens automatic dirty look.

"How long?" Robin asked again, assuming command once more, looking at his bionic friend.

"It's four hundred miles out, and it looks like it's traveling just as fast." Cyborg said, folding his arms at the sea. "And it'll get a lot bigger and slow down as the bay shallows-up."

"That gives us very little time." Raven said calmly.

"Two hours, tops." Cyborg admitted.

Robin was slightly unprepared for this type of scenario. Usually ideas would just go off in his head like a grenade, but now…

'_Wait a minute…That's it!' _Robin thought. He turned to Starfire.

"Starfire, you come with me. I have an idea. Raven, BeastBoy, Cyborg, I need you three to slow this thing down as best you can. Buy us whatever time possible, but be careful. It's a fifty minute flight out there as is, and Starfire and I will join you ASAP. Any questions?"

Four shaking heads.

"Good. Titans, Go!"


	2. Voices

**Chap. 2: Voices**

Raven Cruised at about one-thousand feet, her cape billowing out behind her on the sharp, salty breeze. As a matter of necessity, and wind resistance, her hood was down and her arms outstretched. Bellow her and to her right, a bright green pterodactyl with a large off-blue bionic human on its back, flew gracefully with each flap of its huge wings.

Raven mentally summoned her communicator from her hip to her hand, and switched it to Cyborgs unique arm-display frequency. "Can you see it?"

"Hard to miss it with my vision." Cy responded, his face popping up on the screen. "Can't you?"

"Not yet, but I'm sensing great deal of tension from all the sea creatures below us. They're acting…almost panicky." Raven responded.

"I wonder why." Cyborg said, pointing towards the sea.

Raven put down her communicator, and looked below. She didn't like what she saw.

The wave was red, first of all, red with the fading light of the scorching day. It didn't roar as it moved, per say, but it did rumble. As if a whole nation of cattle were charging the shore. It swelled and rolled, and seemed to swallow the sea as it went, adding it to the wave's already impressive mass. White caps billowed near the top, and a great, dark shadow preceded the tsunami by about three-hundred yards, giving the ocean a black, almost storm-like appearance.

"It's not moving very fast." Raven said into her communicator, the wind whipping her cape out from behind her.

"The water's gettin' shallow! We don't have much time!" Cyborg replied.

Raven nodded, and joined the boys bellow her.

BeastBoy hovered, nearly nine-hundred feet above the wall of water headed towards their city. His dinosaur eyes let him see every detail of the wave from each side, and his apprehension grew with the approaching water.

'_Great. So what now?' _BeastBoy thought.

Cyborg answered his question, even though he didn't hear it. "Wave or no wave, it's still just water. And _water_ I can _handle_!"

He planted both feet on BeastBoys winged shoulders, and yelled, "I've got an idea! BB, flair your wings and brace yourself! Raven, clear out!"

Both titans did as instructed, and without any other warning, Cyborg cut loose.

The kick from Cy's sonic cannon was intense enough on land. In the air, however, it took on a whole new meaning of recoil.

_**THRUMMMMMMM!**_

BB was pushed back from the force, and watched as the charged particle sound-wave cut a swath of foam across the ocean. He could see a new wave, created from Cyborgs blast, as it sprang to life in front of the approaching wave that threatened Jump City.

Cyborg cut the stream of energy, and admired his work. "Awe yea, baby! My wave is gonna wipe you out! Nothing beats a Cy-wave!"

The large wave of water began traveling towards the two-hundred foot wall, and within seconds, the two waves met.

Raven was surprised at the force of the collision, and marveled at the plume of water that erupted up from between the two waves. Even though she was hovering a good nine-hundred feet up, the salt water still brushed her cape, and the sound of air rushing from between the waves was horrendous. She held her ears as the **WUMPF** sound passed over her toned body like a thunderclap.

"That's what I'm TALKIN' about!" Cyborg cheered, tapping BeastBoy on the head. "Who's bad now, huh? Tell me, please, I need to HEAR about my bad self!"

"Uh, Cyborg?" Raven said from above.

"Yes, Raven?" Cyborg answered, all smiles.

"THAT'S bad." Raven said, pointing down.

Cyborg looked in the direction of his teammates pointing, just long enough to have the smile on his face drop like a stone. "You've gotta be KIDDIN' me!"

The wave was still in motion, large as ever, though its height seemed to have diminished slightly. A deep basin of water in the ocean floor was below the titans now, and while the wave didn't look as big, it was still huge, still mobile, and still headed for the city.

BeastBoy hovered around Ravens altitude, a very disappointed and somewhat offended Cyborg on his back. "That shot was dead on. My wave was beautiful. What happened?"

"Ratio of mass and velocity between your wave and the large one. It just wasn't enough." Raven said, as she watched the water.

"That thing is a MONSTER." Cyborg said, rubbing his head.

Without a word, BeastBoy banked upward, over Ravens head, and morphed back into a human. This surprise move sent Cyborg spinning, and made Raven gawk.

"BEASTBOY! Whaddaya DOIN', man!" Cyborg yelled as flew downwards.

"That thing may be a monster, but I'm a _beast_! Raven, catch Cy!" BB yelled back.

A thin but powerful disc of black, telekinetic energy formed beneath Cyborgs feet, catching him just as BeastBoy when whipping past Raven from above. Her face was aghast and her mind racing.

"What're you plannin', ya green nut!" Cyborg called after him.

"Don't worry! I have an ideeeeeeeaaaaaa…!" BeastBoy responded as he hurled towards the approaching wave, his body, like his words, becoming fainter and fainter as he fell.

'_He's out of his MIND' _Raven thought to herself, her knuckles white.

'_I'm outta my MIND' _BeastBoy thought as he fell. But it was now or never.

It looked as if BeastBoy had been swallowed up by the wave, from where Cyborg and Raven floated. But the green elf reappeared in a very drastic way.

As if a can of green paint had exploded, BeastBoy blew up before his teammates, into a massive Blue Whale. The giant creature, over one-hundred and twenty feet long and weighing better than ninety tons, was still about three-hundred feet about the wave when it appeared. The full force of its fall was only realized when the largest animal ever found on earth slammed into the wave.

**Ker-_POOOOOOOWWWW!_**

The wave seemed to divide in two as BeastBoy the whale nailed it going about one-hundred and fifty miles an hour as he fell. A crevice formed atop the crest of the great wave, and, just for a second, the wave shuddered from the impact of BeastBoys behemoth belly-flop.

It was not to last.

"Oh, for the love of…" Cyborg said, his teeth grating with frustration.

"Well…that was a beast, if I ever saw one." Raven said, her paled expression somewhat paler from the experience.

The wave was still going. BeastBoys massive splash had done nothing.

A second later, a small humming-bird with a green complexion perched atop the energy disc with Cyborg. A much waterlogged BeastBoy appeared before his teammates, soaking wet and dizzy.

"OK, my plan sucked. And my head won't stop ringing." BB said, pouring water and several small sea creatures from his boot. "Next bright idea, anyone?"

Raven took a deep breath for the first time in what seemed like ages. _'He's alright. He's…he's going to be alright.' _She thought to herself quietly.

She shook the sentimentality from her mind, muttering "Idiot" under her breath, and unclenched her hands.

She floated over to Cyborg and BeastBoy on her platform. Her countenance was once again that of a monotone, creepy young woman. But her voice held its original edge, without betraying any of her new-found and strange feelings of concern for BeastBoys safety. "BeastBoy! Can you fly again?"

"Huh? Yea, yea I can. These guns are still loaded." BeastBoy responded, flexing his non-existent biceps. "Why?"

Raven rolled her eyes, flared her cape out from behind her, and said, "Because now, it's MY turn."

BeastBoy stood, back-flipped into the air, reassumed his pterodactyl form, and snared Cyborg by the shoulder panels with his strong clawed feet. One beat of his wings, and Cyborg was lifted clean off of the now dissipating energy disc.

As BeastBoy caught a stiff breeze and ascended upwards, Raven positioned herself about three miles before the wave, and began to channel her energy from her center outwards.

"Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"

Bolts of telekinetic lightening shot from the outstretched fingertips of Ravens hands, striking the water several hundred feet below her. The water fizzed and bubbled from the sudden intrusion of energy, and the sea was blackened from the powerful release.

From above, Cyborg was puzzled, but impressed. "Ravens cornered the market on fireworks displays, but what is she tryin' to do?"

'_Be careful, Raven. Please, be careful...' _BeastBoy silently prayed.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden explosion of water and shelf rock below his feet.

"Whoa! What in the name of-" But Cyborgs voice was drowned out by the sound of shattering stone.

Ravens bolts of energy had wrapped themselves around the sea floor. Gigantic slabs of stone, several hundred feet wide and nearly a hundred feet tall, began to lean upwards, like massive draw-bridges. Plant-life and corral reefs fell from the rising sheets of rock, back into the sea. The sound of shifting and cracking sandstone filled the air, momentarily drowning out the sound of the wave.

When complete, Raven had erected three huge blockades before the approaching mountain of water. Her energy crackled around her body, providing extra support for her barrier. Mist and steam whirled around her, and the sea seemed to boil with her effort. Her eyes shone black with her power, and her teeth were clenched as she concentrated on deflecting the imminent collision of earth and sea.

'_The Great Wall of Raven…' _BeastBoy thought as he clutched Cyborg in his claws.

BeastBoy had very little time to gawk, as Ravens great wall was about to meet the great wave.

"Come on…hold it together girl…" Cyborg whispered to himself.

A second later, with a roar and a crash, the two walls met.

As in tune with her powers as she was, Raven felt every pound of water that slammed against her cordon of stone. The shockwave of the strike back lashed though the waves of her power, careening across her body like a truck slamming into a tree. Her muscles convulsed and spasms rocked her body. She was feeling the whole brunt of the wave, and it was a wave one-hundred _thousand_ times her size.

'_Hold it together Raven…' _She coaxed herself as her fortification began to tremble. _'Keep up the pressure…concentrate…'_

A single, but massive crack formed upon the stone barrier. It began to crawl and grow, splitting along the many faults already embedded in the stone. The crumbling and splintering of huge slabs of bedrock could be heard up and down the makeshift shield, until the wave threw the last of its weight against it.

"It's fallin' apart! Back off, Rae! Clear out!" bellowed Cyborg.

With that, the seemingly living body of water capsized the aura encapsulated slabs, and everything came crashing down. Boulders the size of sail-boats plunged into the foamy surf, the water still a deep crimson from the setting sun. The wave moved forward as if never touched, crushing Ravens defense into pebbles.

The rebound from this sudden assault sent Ravens powers right back at her. They rebounded into her body like a rubber-band snapping, and Raven was propelled back several feet as a result. Her energy crackled and sizzled in her hands, as she tried to regain control of her body, and her mind.

"Raven! What happened? Are you OK?" Cyborg asked, immediately concerned over the fate of his surrogate little sister.

Raven shook her head, took a deep breath, and straightened herself in the air. As soon as her eyes stopped twirling, she pointed downward and said, "None of us are going to be OK in a second."

Cyborg whirled his head around, and went pale. Not ten miles away, and getting closer, was Titans Tower.

"Awe man…what do we do now?" Cyborg asked, watching the wave get bigger and bigger once more.

Raven couldn't answer. All she could do was watch the swell of liquid destruction as it rolled towards their home, and their city.

That's when BeastBoy saw something, and lost control. "I see them!"

Transforming back into his green self had left Cyborg dead in the air once more. This was, needless to say, inconvenient. "Don't drop me, ya' dumb dwarf!"

Quickly realizing his folly, BB re-morphed, and re-caught Cyborg, just as Raven looked in the direction that her teammate had.

"It's them…I think." Raven said skeptically.

Sure enough, rocketing from Titans Tower, straight in their direction, came the orange headed princess with her spiky haired leader in her arms.

As for what was in Robins grasp, it was anybodies guess. As Starfire carried him, he carried a cigar shaped instrument, about five feet long, and bright yellow with blue stripes vertically placed upon it. It looked to be alien in design and form, but as to it's function…?

"Titans!" came Robin's hoarse yell, "Get clear, and brace yourselves!"

And Robin dropped the funny shaped object into the massive tsunami.

Several things happened at once. So fast that, it almost appeared to be in super slow motion.

BeastBoy struggling to gain altitude.

Raven pulling up and away from the wave.

Robin being flung up into the air by his lovely teammate.

And a staggering flash of blue-green energy that lit up the sea and sky.

Raven saw the whole thing, her body numb from the shock and disbelief. The parting of the waves…the chasm of empty space beneath the wall of water…BeastBoy being blown out of control by the powerful surge of wind…Starfire catching Cyborg as he spun into the early evening sky…reaching for BeastBoys seemingly lifeless hand…missing it.

BeastBoy falling…and falling…

_**WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR…?**_

'_What? Where did…who…what is…?' _Her mind responded to the booming voice.

_**SAVE HIM RAVEN…SAVE HIM…**_

'_What is this? Who are you?' _She asked the voice in her head, one that was not her own.

_**SAVE HIM…DON'T LET HIM GO…**_

Before she could even think about what she was doing, Raven was in a nose dive, making a bee-line for the place where BeastBoy lay, on the wet rocks of the sea floor below.

BeastBoy remembered very little from all of this. His last memory was that of a sky filled with water, falling towards him, and imagining his life at an end.

The next, he was laying on his back, facing a transparent orb of black energy. Water swirled around his new protective shield, and it seemed as if all was silent again.

All this was a blur. But one thing was crystal clear in his memory.

Raven stood before him, her arms outstretched to hold back the might of the ocean above them. Her feet were planted near his own, her muscles straining, her body flexed and tight. Her face, so lovely, even when angry or depressed, shone with determination and zeal.

The colors were everywhere. Reds and blues from the sun, deep blacks and purples from the water, and greens and whites from the remnants of the explosion that had struck him from the air.

His eyes were barely open, and the blow to his head was severe. But he drank all of this in with wonder and awe. As if a cold glass of water had touched his parched lips for the first times in years.

He thought he saw Raven mouth something, but he could not tell what. He was far to enthralled by the curves of her body and the menagerie of colors that surrounded her.

His mind was beginning to fade, but he had to respond in some way to Ravens question.

"…beautiful…" he managed to say.

The last thing BeastBoy thought he saw was the widening of Ravens eyes, and a touch of color to her cheeks. After that, his eyes fluttered, and his mind swam.

He let his body drift into unconsciousness, but held onto the last vision he beheld.

Raven, and all the colors of the rainbow, dancing in his mind, as the darkness swallowed him whole.


	3. Destination

**Chap. 3: Destination**

"Is our friend Alright?"

"He fell from like half 'a mile up."

"How are his vitals?"

"Stable, but still weaker than normal."

"Oh, what has happened? Why is his face not the green?"

"The bruising is extensive, but my sensors don't detect any serious internal bleeding."

"You wouldn't think he'd been in one piece, but his training really paid off."

"He lost control and got into a mess he couldn't fly out of. Typical."

"Will our friend be OK? Should I be doing something that I am not? I want him awakened."

"He needs to be monitored carefully, so my biometric gauge will be connected to his, just in case."

"Good, but we need something a little more observant. Someone should watch him…"

"I Will."

"…?..."

"…?..."

"…?..."

"Why are you staring? I said I will watch him. Is there something wrong?"

"No, no, not at all. Just, uh…report to us in medical bay two if anything changes."

"Wonderful! I'm sure our companion shall recover quickly. Please, do the watching carefully."

"I'm sure he'll be fine. If I can't pummel the little grass stain to death during park scrimmage, a little water won't have any more luck."

"I'll call if anything changes. Check on the other one."

Such was the treat for the ears for BeastBoy, who could still hear with vibrant clarity, but could not open his eyes. His brain, while in an unconscious state, could still register the information being fed to it through his sizable elf-like ears. The silence that followed caused a lapse in his concentration, and unconsciousness took him once more.

When he awoke, he was in a very confused state indeed. His arms were covered in monitoring patches, and a constant beeping sound flooded his ears. He could not remember all that happened during the last few hours, but he could remember and differentiate the voices that played through his head. His head pounded slightly and his mouth had a very dry taste in it.

'_What happened to me?' _He asked himself as he slowly opened his eyes.

His answer was a one that he didn't expect in the slightest, but one that pleased him anyway.

Sitting at a precarious angle in a chair beside his bed, head lying in the crook of an elbow and thick book lying across pale legs, sat a sleeping Raven.

The open window caught a deep red setting sun behind her tilted head, and her blue-purple hair seemed to deepen with the effect. The silhouette of the dozing girl cast a shadow across BB's bed, a stark contrast to the sterile sheets adorning his body.

She shifted slightly, and the large book fell from her lap to the floor with a dull thud.

The page she had been reading fell open upright, facing BeastBoys bed.

His curiosity once again getting the better of him, his health be damned, BeastBoy craned his neck up slightly, and glanced at the open pages of her book.

Only one line could be made out clearly by the changeling's bandaged eyes. It was part of a larger paragraph that was mostly obscured from his limited vision. But what was written was enough to send the teens mind a-thinking.

"…**that which stabs my heart with hate and loathing, journeys at the beckon of my own hand, forever my torture, forever my design**…"

'_How sad.' _BeastBoy thought, his heart aching for a moment. _'But what does it mean?'_

"So…you're awake."

BB's eyes drifted to the soft voice. He beheld a still sleepy, but now very alert Raven.

"You must be feeling a little better, if you're up to reading a book at a two-hundred degree angle." Raven said.

"Yea." BeastBoy whispered. "Put me back in, couch. I can take 'em."

"Don't talk. You really need to rest." Raven ordered.

"Oh, come on. You know I have to act all macho in the face of great pain." BB countered.

"We'll see how macho you are if I have to re-injure you to keep you still." Raven warned.

BeastBoy gave her a warm smile, and looked back out the window. "How long was I out?"

"Almost a full day. Cyborg said you'd be asleep nearly a week."

"The wave? The city?"

"Both were taken care of. Jump City still stands."

"What was that thing Robin and Star used on it?"

"Some kind of Tamaranian kinetic energy back-lash machine. A gift from Galfore. The wave basically fell in on itself."

"How's my hair?"

Raven gave BeastBoy the mother of all confused looks; one that gave BB the giggles in a way that was almost painful for his chest.

"I was only kidding! Jeez, I know it looks good."

Raven sighed in exasperation, and bent to pick up her book. But BeastBoy wasn't done asking questions yet.

"So, uh…how did you get stuck watching me?" He asked.

Raven visibly froze for a moment, but just for a moment. Regaining her composure had become an art form for her. Although she made sure to avoid looking directly at him.

"We drew straws. I got the short one."

"Oh. I see." BB said, his flow suddenly broken.

Raven felt very claustrophobic a second later, and stood. "I have to tell the others that you're awake. Stay in bed."

BeastBoy nodded, and watched as Raven walked out of the room and down the hall to the second medical bay. He heaved his chest with a sigh, realized this was painful, and decided to stick to smaller breaths for now. It might have helped if his bed reclined a little more.

'_To see inside that coconut-shaped head of his…if only for a second…' _Raven thought.

Raven appeared in the slightly darker secondary medical lab. Her teammates were gathered around another bed, this one much more thickly covered and surrounded by even more machinery.

"BeastBoy woke up. He vitals seem normal, but his mouth is still broken." She reported.

Cyborg, a concerned look on his face, gazed up from the heart monitor he was connected to. "Glad to hear it. Good to hear he's OK…"

"How is she?" Raven asked softly.

"It is dreadful!" Starfire said in woe. "Her flesh is cold and her hands seem limp and her face is full of the cuts and I don't know why but breathing seems difficult for her-"

Robin was quick to put a gentle hand over her mouth, keeping her deep concern under control. "She hasn't really changed, condition-wise." He said.

"Who hasn't changed?" came a familiar voice from the door.

The Titans turned to see a limping, bandaged BeastBoy hobble into the room. Needless to say, Raven was displeased.

"What part of 'stay in bed' was lost to your thought process BeastBoy?" Raven asked, glaring.

"Oh come on Rae, I never listen to you as is. Why would _now_ be any different?" BB winked.

"BeastBoy! You have recuperated! I am greatly relieved!" Starfire exclaimed, flying towards BB to give one of her patented bear hugs.

Thankfully, Robin was quicker. "Whoa, hold it Star! We just got BB out of the hospital. We don't want him BACK in intensive care."

"But, I was worried. Showing displays of relief over ones recovery is bad?" Starfire asked, confused.

"No, no, it isn't. It's just that…BeastBoy can only handle SO MUCH physical affection right now." Robin reassured.

"He means just be gentle with me." BB filled in.

"Oh! Well, why didn't you say so?" Starfire asked, giving her injured teammate a soft hug. "It is good to see you well, friend."

"Back at you Star." BeastBoy said.

"Good to see you still standin'." Cyborg said, patting him on the back with his big titanium paw.

"Standing? Hey! You, me, and Mega Monkeys Do Tokyo, right now!" BeastBoy half heartedly challenged.

His attention, however, was soon placed upon the bed before him. "Who's that?"

He asked timidly.

Cyborg took a deep breath, and his face fell with his great chest as he exhaled. His countenance was now that of a man in pain, though BB could not tell why.

"See for yourself. You may not believe it." The half metal man warned.

A few wobbly steps later, much to Ravens chagrin, and BeastBoy was standing at the foot of the bed, wires and whirring machinery preventing him from getting too close. But he was close enough, even with the head dressing on the patient's face, to make out who it was.

Cyborg was right. He didn't believe it.

"Jinx?" he asked, confused and taken-aback. "That's Jinx! What…? How…? Where did she come from?"

"Guess who caused the wave?" Raven asked.

"It wasn't intentional." Cyborg said, a slight edge to his voice.

"We found her inside it, didn't we? It certainly _looks_ like she did." Raven said.

"Whoa, whoa, back up here a sec. What are you guys talking about?" BB asked.

"I was just about to do the briefing." Robin said, flipping on a large monitor screen on the other end of the room. "And now I won't have to do it twice."

Upon the screen, in a three picture display, was a silver, half circle shaped ship. Readings on the screen displayed its structural analysis, and it appeared to be about fifty feet wide from wing tip to wing tip. It weight about 14 tons, which was surprising considering its only propulsion source was a short range rocket engine.

"Is that what Jinx was in?" BeastBoy asked, sitting in a nearby chair.

"After the wave dissipated, we put you in med bay one, and went to investigate the cause of the wave." Robin explained. "Starfire and Raven pulled this ship out of a half mile wide crater in the bottom of the ocean. We put it up in Cyborgs workshop, and his sensors detected a life source inside. Jinx."

"She's really banged up. Contusions, a broken arm, soft tissue lacerations on her lower body, a ruptured spleen, the works…" Cyborg said, his voice soft and sad. "And the only injury sustained by the crash was her head injury. Someone _did_ this to her."

"Including these surgical pinpricks on her right arm." Robin added, showing a blow up of Jinx's arm on the screen with the vampire-like holes in it. "What they were for is unknown, but they are her most precise injury."

"It was against her will, whatever it was." Cyborg said, leaning on the panel below the monitor. "Someone took advantage of her, beat her, maimed her, and did it repeatedly."

"Has anyone contacted Kid Flash?" BeastBoy asked, looking at the floor.

"No Luck." Raven said. "He's racing Mas and Menos across Siberia and back one-hundred times, or so we think. We can't reach him."

"Her injuries were extensive. She's in no position to talk to anyone." Robin said, his masked creased with worry. "Somebody has a lot to answer for."

"She fought back though." Cyborg said. "I know she would; no one, no matter who, would ever get away with _this_ without a fight from her. No one. Not ever…"

A creaking, wrenching sound could be heard in Cyborgs direction. When he looked down, he realized that his powerful, hydraulically enhanced titanium grip had crushed the thick steel of the workstation below the screen.

Everyone else understood his anger and grief. But he still said "Sorry."

"This new discovery, however," Robin continued, changing the screen to a display of the ships interior, "Gives me cause to believe that Cyborg is right. She didn't intentionally fall into the pacific."

"What new discovery?" Raven inquired.

"The ship that H.I.V.E member Jinx was piloting is not used as a form of aerial combat or attack craft. It is, at best, a means of escape." Starfire added, standing next to the unconscious pink-haired woman.

"The console of the craft has limited instrumentation, no weapons, and a life support system. Plus, the rocket was single stage only, and her fuel ran out way before she landed in the ocean." Robin explained, musing, with his hand under his chin, at the display before him. "What I don't get is what happened to the navigation array. It looks like it was melted and scorched beyond recognition."

"I already did a diagnostic on the ships active systems." Cyborg interjected. "She was able to set a course for the latitude and longitude of Jump City, but something fried the circuits before she launched, and the array went haywire. We're lucky she didn't actually land _in _Jump City Park, given how she came down."

"What caused it?" BeastBoy asked, holding his bandaged arm.

"A charged pulse of unstable radioactive particles from some kind of random discharge emitter, in waves of two or three." Cyborg explained.

Raven almost grinned at the sight of BeastBoys bug-eyed expression at what Cyborg had just said, but she kept it to herself, while Robin stepped in.

"It was some kind of electrical weapon that uses a very powerful and dangerous power source. Possibly plutonium." Their leader explained.

"Oh. Yeah. Right. I knew that." BB said, his recovery less than graceful.

"Damaged as it is, the technology is very advanced. But I can't narrow down any possible leads as to who either built or sponsored the construction. Its way to outlandish for WayneTech Ind. And Luthor Weapons Corp. uses completely different circuitry panels. Plus, Star Labs would report on or at least make it known that such a big and expensive craft was missing or stolen." Robin went on.

"But Jinx did try to do the 'cluing-in' for us. Observe." Starfire said, changing the screen once more.

A flyby of blueprints, technical schematics, inventory lists, and mechanical cross-sections popped up on the screen. Some of the pictures were incomplete, the lists seemed even less readable, and many of the blueprints were only half downloaded. To BeastBoy, it was all gibberish. To Cyborg, it posed a question.

"This operation must be huge, whatever it is. I've ever seen such designs except in large scale broadcasting and transmitting projects done by the government. And whatever they're doing with all that wrought-iron and scrap metal is beyond me." Cyborg said, his electrical retina picking up and reading every bit of information on the screen. "But it's incomplete. What is this?"

"A partially intact data disc we found in the breast pocket of her tattered clothing." Raven explained, indicating the ragged gray strips near the door. "This was all we were able to take off of it."

"It's what is left of a much more massive compendium of information that Jinx downloaded onto this disc." Robin stated. "Much as I've looked over it lately, I can't make heads or tails of it. Nor can I decipher who drew or designed them."

"OK, maybe I'm just dense or something, or I hit my head really hard…" BeastBoy started.

"Or both." Cyborg added playfully.

"…but something like this would be really hard NOT to notice around here. I mean, something this conspicuous and complicated would have caught our attention sooner or later, right?" BB finished.

Raven resisted the urge to gawk at BeastBoy. She wasn't sure what was more perplexing: how insightful BeastBoys observation was, or that he actually knew the word 'conspicuous.'

She shook her shock away, and addressed his question. "It's because, _whatever_ this is, and _whenever_ it's happening, it won't occur anywhere near here."

"Then where? Where on Earth could such a Bognart of an operation take place without our notice?" Starfire asked.

"About thirteen thousand miles south of us." Raven said flatly.

THAT got everyone's attention.

"Say wha'?" BeastBoy asked.

"I wanted to know how Jinx could have managed such speed and velocity from such a small craft. Since the on-board computer couldn't tell us anything, I checked the roof cameras on top of Titans Tower." Raven explained, switching the screen for a fourth time.

A four camera display appeared on the monitor. The cameras, equipped with motion sensors and infrared lenses, caught everything. The ship, appearing as a ball of yellow-white light, veered past the top of the tower, displayed in different angles and clarity, based on the position of the camera tracking it.

The ship soared past, nearly frying one of the cameras circuitry as it did. Motion sensors tracked the fiery image as it swept over the sea, past the Titans in the lower corner of one camera, and into the horizon. Everything the Titans saw and did, if it was within the scope of any of the cameras, was recorded, even if at a distance.

Raven removed her hood and stopped the camera feed. "We were fortunate enough to have the ship past almost directly over the tower. We caught almost every detail of the ships path, and I was able to determine an origin."

"How'd you manage that?" BB asked, scratching his head.

Raven brought up a three dimensional pictograph of the ship, and its vapor trail. "I triangulated it's origin by measuring and analyzing the angle, distance, and curvature of the trail left behind the ship as it fell."

"In English?"

"I followed the steam-trail road."

"Oh."

"Location of launch site?" Robin asked.

"Undetermined. I was only able to isolate the smallest possible area where the ship may have launched." Raven said, examining the screen carefully. "But even then, I'm not sure if the computer is even accurate."

"Why? Where did it say Jinx came from?" Cyborg asked.

"Antarctica."

The silence in the room, save the beeping from Jinx's heart monitor, was very uncomfortable. Robin could only narrow his eyes, BeastBoy gawked at the new information, Starfire looked confused, and Cyborg looked resigned to his thoughts.

BeastBoy broke the ice. "Well, look at it this way. This heat wave has us sizzlin'. Maybe the cold will do us some good."

"BB, that isn't just cold. That's the coldest of the cold, man. Makes my compressor shiver just thinking about it." Cyborg said, placing a hand on Jinx's arm.

"This 'Ant-arch-tick-ah' is a hostile environment?" Starfire asked curiously, picking Silky up as he brushed her leg.

"Not too dissimilar from the North Pole, where Kole and G'narck hang out." Robin said. "We've dealt with worse."

"The T-Ship can be fueled and ready to fly in an hour." Cyborg said.

"What about friend BeastBoys injuries? Is he able to travel?" Starfire wondered aloud.

"I'm ready to rumble Star. Just try and stop me." BB reassured her, smiling.

"You never listen, do you?" Raven asked, arms crossed.

"Rarely." The changeling said.

"I'm not too crazy about leaving Jinx like this, but her vitals are hooked up to a monitoring console at Jump City Medical. She should be fine on her own. For a little while." Cyborg said, gazing sadly at the sorceress.

"This is all well and good, but we're still going by the seat of our pants here." Robin said. "All we have is a location and possible foul play."

"What other evidence do you need of 'foul play'?" Cyborg asked angrily, gesturing to his patient.

"It's just that…I wish we knew what to expect. Who, or WHAT, we were dealing with." Robin explained, backing off slightly.

BeastBoy was listening, of course, but he became distracted by Starfire. He noticed her tilted head, intense gaze, and the way she was absentmindedly stroking Silky.

Raven followed BeastBoys gaze, and took notice too. "What is it, Star?"

"H.I.V.E. member Jinx is unconscious, correct?" Starfire asked.

Robin's ears perked up. "Yes, she is."

"Why?" Cyborg asked.

"I am curious then. Tell me, Robin, to what does Jinx cling to so fiercely in her right hand?" Starfire asked.

Four pairs of eyes swiveled to Jinx's right arm, sporting the two puncture wounds. Sure enough, grasped tightly in her small hand, was a small piece of cloth.

"What is it?" Cyborg asked, as Robin ventured to investigate.

BeastBoy and Raven did not need to move from their seats. Curious as they were, they received their answer a few seconds later.

Robin's shoulders were hunched, his head low, and his breathing became shorter. He turned slowly, took a deep breath, and opened his clenched jaw ever so slightly.

Starfire became afraid, and Cyborg seemed even more worried than before. Neither could tell what was wrong with their leader. Neither really wanted to know.

But Starfire had to know. "Robin, please! Tell us what troubles you."

Robin held out the piece of cloth. It was slightly shredded and faded, but the black and orange were unmistakable. A sinister, almost wicked 'S' could be made out upon the torn rag.

Everyone knew the symbol. And everyone loathed and despised what it represented.

But Robin summed it up nicely.

"_SLADE." _

Let's say...20 reviews, and I'll continue. No Flames, if you please.


	4. Ambush

_Alright, you guys win. Here's another one. But Make sure to suggest this fic to your friends if you really find it interesting. Feedback is like Mountain Dew. I can't get enough of it. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. WishI did. _

**Chap. 4: Ambush**

The T-Ship cruised at about ten-thousand feet through the night sky. Normally, its fusion thrusters would have been too powerful and far too loud to travel so low. But now, the Titans were powering through the sky over open water, and making good time at nearly three times the speed of sound. The deafening sound of the engines fell upon no ears, save the five pairs within the ship itself.

The ocean spread out in every direction, a great black plain of water with no end in sight. The sky, partly cloudy but full of stars, contrasted the darkness of the arctic water. And between the sky and the sea, like a small beacon of golden light, flew the Titans.

Each Titan had a specific ship section, and a specific task assigned to it. But, be that as it may, distractions were still abundant. The growing cold, for example, being the most prevalent.

_Robin?_ Starfire asked over the ships primary intercom.

_Yes, Star_? Robin replied, his voice just as distorted and crackly.

_Is it normal for large amounts of condensing and freezing liquid to form on the interior of my display_? she asked.

_The temperature is dropping rapidly Starfire_. Robin explained. _Our Atmospheric Containment Units within the ship will keep us warm, but outside, the temperature is already close to ten degrees below zero_.

_I'm plugged directly into the ships mainframe. Everything looks nominal_. Cyborg said. _But I guess some frost is to be expected_.

_How's our fuel_? Robin asked.

_We should have just used the rocket propulsion system like we do when we travel through space. We could have vertically launched and already been there hours ago. As it is, we're already half empty, and I can't access the secondary tanks until we've landed._ Cyborg said, obviously frustrated.

_Too late now_. Raven reminded everyone.

_Besides_, Robin pointed out, _This gives us a slight advantage. We're traveling low enough to avoid most forms of radar, and no one expects our arrival_.

_We_ _think. _BeastBoy said, looking at his teammates around him.

_Well, the P.S.R. passed us a while ago. We're effectively on our own now._ Robin stated flatly.

_How dreadful! We have missed the P.S.R.? What shall we do? Without the P.S.R., we shall certainly find ourselves in great peril…umm, Robin?_ Star asked.

_Yes?_

_What is this 'P.S.R.' you speak of?_

BeastBoy and Cyborg couldn't help but giggle a little, and Robin just gave a warm hearted smile as he piloted the ship. _It means Point of Safe Return, Star. It means even if we turned back now, we wouldn't make it back to land before our fuel ran out_.

_Than this IS dreadful._ Starfire said.

_Yes. Horrid_. Raven said, thick with sarcasm.

_But I have been monitoring our communications, and we do not have a viable signal in ANY direction! I get nothing but the 'snow' as you call It_. Starfire said, very distraught.

_Broadband frequencies are all open. If you don't hear anything, we're in a static pocket. We won't be able to hear or receive anyone until we reach a signal relay station._ Cyborg said, examining his instrumentation.

_The communicator?_ Raven asked.

_Squat. Not even a tracking signal_. Cyborg said.

_But all this icky-black water makes me the nervous_. Starfire said. _I would very much like to avoid it at all costs_.

_Don't worry Starfire. We're not going to drown._ Robin reassured.

_What makes you so sure_? BB asked, unconvinced.

_We're here_.

Sure enough, below the ship, the blackness of the sea seemed to evaporate suddenly, to be replaced by a snowy white. Huge cliffs of ice and snow rose up from the water to reveal a second, all consuming terrain of frozen land. Although partially hidden by the darkness, the snow reflected the twinkling of the stars above, as well as the half moon in the eastern sky.

_It is whiter than the North Pole!_ Starfire exclaimed, looking down.

_And nearly devoid of life._ Raven included. _Which begs the question; why would Slade have set up something so large and so extensive in the middle of such a barren waste land?_

_We're going to find out_. Robin said, flipping a few switches. _I've put the ship into Stealth Mode. I'm terminating almost all exterior lighting, and switching our Intercom system to a less powerful frequency._

With that, lighting on the outside of the ship dimmed until the only lights that could be seen were the individual displays in each Titans cockpit, and the stars above. Everyone became quiet, and the ship ran silently over the frozen continent.

BeastBoy, never one to sit still for long, didn't react well to prolonged periods of inactivity. Although most of his lesions had healed, his head still pounded slightly, and he began to fidget in his seat.

It was BB's job to monitor the vital signs of all the Titans, but the screen he was looking at was becoming very monotonous. He gazed uninterestedly at the bio-readings of his friends. Starfires raised endorphin levels meant she was excited and happy, but still feeling the anxiety she always felt when she still didn't fully understand what was happening. Robin was his usual calm, collective self, his heart rate, blood pressure, neural kinetics and cerebral output in perfect control, as always. Cyborgs central processing unit was carefully monitoring the ships activity, and BeastBoy used the ship to measure the flow, charge, and stability of his central power cell. Raven…

Raven showed a thyroid gland imbalance and a heightened release of adrenaline in the last half hour. Her breathing was stable, but measured, careful. But her temperature was a little higher than normal.

She was concentrating. But not meditating. Strange.

BeastBoy flipped on his headset and switched it to the private frequency of Raven's weapons system network. He looked towards his teammate's cockpit, and spoke. _Hey, Raven?_

The dark young woman visibly jumped on the other side of the ship at the sound of a voice after so much silence. _What! What is it?_ she asked harshly.

_Whoa, whoa, chill! It's just me_! BB whispered sharply. _Calm down, Rae_.

_Don't call me 'Rae.'_ Raven warned, turning the volume down on her headset and sitting back in her seat. _What do you want?_

_Nothing really…just bored and dealing with the lump on my head._ BeastBoy admitted.

_Great. I tell you to stay behind so you can heal, and you insist upon coming, only to feel the after effects of falling ninety stories_. Raven said back, annoyed. _Don't whine to me because you choose to not listen._

_Whose whining? I'm just…you know…making small talk._ BeastBoy said in his defense.

_Can't you make it with Cyborg or Starfire?_ Raven asked, trying to put the elf out of her mind.

_It's just that you seem…distracted_. BB ventured.

_That about sums up what you're doing_. Raven said curtly.

This was going no-where, so BeastBoy decided to just ask the question rolling around in his head. What's on your mind?

Raven hesitated for a moment, but her voice didn't waver when she spoke. Her response gave BeastBoy more of answer than she thought. _Nothing._

_Your bio-reading says different._ BeastBoy added. _You're concentrating. But you're not meditating, are you?_

Raven took a deep breath, restraining her anger. _What business is it of yours?_

BeastBoy took a look over the side of the ship, at the endless expanse of white. _We need everyone in their best form and ready to fight. It's my job to make sure everyone is in tip-top butt-kicking condition._

_I see_. Raven said.

_But mostly, I'm just kind of…worried, about you. Concerned, I guess._ BeastBoy admitted.

Raven didn't say anything for a long time. BeastBoy thought he could make out her head, turning towards him, across the steel and glass of the ship. It was dark, but BB could have sworn that he saw a look of deep concern upon the pale face of the psychic.

This worried him further. _What's wrong?_

_Do you remember anything before the explosion? Just after my walls fell before the wave?_ Raven asked.

_The one that packed a wallop and knocked me on my green rear? Yea, vaguely_. BeastBoy said.

_Did you happen to hear anything strange on your way…down?_ she asked softly.

_Like what? Noises?_

_Voices, more like_.

_What? Around me? Or in my head?_

Raven was very quiet. _Head_.

Now it was BeastBoys turn to look confused, even if Raven couldn't see it. _In my head? No…no, not any. Why?_

Raven didn't answer.

BeastBoy had found something here. _But you_ **_did_** _hear something. Didn't you?_

Again, no answer.

_Look, Raven, not to be rude or anything, but aren't you kinda…**used** to that sorta thing?_ BeastBoy said delicately.

_Not like this_. Raven said confidently. _Not like anything I've ever…heard, before_.

_Your emotions trying to make contact, maybe?_ BeastBoy asked.

_No. the voice was…foreign. One I've never heard before_. Raven said. _At least…_

_At least what?_ BeastBoy asked, cautiously.

_At least, not one I've heard in a long time._ Raven finished.

_So wait, rewind a bit here. You just suddenly heard a voice that you've never heard before, but it sounded familiar._ BeastBoy said.

_Correct._

_OK, you lost me._

Raven held her forehead as if to say 'Why bother', but continued. _Bizarre as the voice was, what it said to me was much more perplexing._

_That means strange, right_? BeastBoy asked.

_Correct. And, well, as random and intrusive as it was…I did as it asked me to_. she said.

_What did it ask you to do?_ BB asked, somewhat anxious about the answer.

Raven shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and took a quick glance down at her defense systems complex beneath her control panel. _Something…strange. But it felt…necessary. To listen, at the time, I mean._

She was avoiding the question. _And it asked you to do…what?_

Hesitantly, and almost reluctantly, Raven faced him fully across the ship. Her face was caught by the failing moon-light, and it held a request. One that BeastBoy could understand.

_You can tell me. It won't leave my lips. Pinky promise_. BB swore, trying to lighten the mood.

'**Such a big secret. Must be important to her**_.' _BB thought to himself.

'**Damn that smile**_.' _Raven thought silently.

'_Save him._'

_Huh?_

_It said 'Save him. Save him Raven. Don't let him go.'_

Again, right over BB's head. _Whoa. Deep. Out there…what does it mean?_

Raven suddenly felt very foolish. She shouldn't have gone into this. _Forget it. Never mind._

_No, no, wait. Let me try this. You heard this just before Star and Rob set off that cigarette shaped kinetic-y-whats-ama-whosit, right?_ BeastBoy asked.

_Yes…_

_And you've never heard it before, but it sounded kinda-sorta familiar, right?_ BB went on.

_Yes…_ Raven said, quickly becoming annoyed with BeastBoy again.

_And the only person out there who got knocked out was m-_ and the light bulb finally went off.

Raven knew BeastBoy could be smart. (When he choose to be, of course.) But he never really could handle sensitive information well. Raven prepared for the worse.

His reaction was somewhat less than catastrophic. _Wow._

But he didn't shut up about it either. _It asked you to save…me? You have a voice in your head that told you to save me?_

No response.

_So it WAS you who…it was YOU who were the one standing over my…_ BeastBoy deciphered.

Ravens silence and turned face were all the answer he needed.

BeastBoys hands were sweaty and his face felt hot. If Raven was telling the truth, then that would mean…

_Raven,_ BeastBoy began, _I wanted to tell you…I mean, I guess I knew it was you who helped me, but I didn't…I wasn't sure HOW to…_

_It's nothing. Let it be, BeastBoy._ Raven said softly, almost sadly.

_But I just wanted to- _

_**SLAM!**_

The T-Ship was suddenly flying at a one-hundred and eighty degree angle.

_We been **hit!**_ Cyborg blared over the com.

_What was THAT? _BeastBoy asked.

_Whatever it was, it nearly fried the ships systems!_ Robin yelled back. _Titans: Red Alert!_

The ship automatically left stealth mode, and all onboard systems became active. But the extra lighting was unnecessary, because the night sky was now filled with neon red glow.

_**SLAM!**_

_Damage Report!_ Robin ordered.

_Weapons and countermeasures are down, and our structural integrity is weakening! _Raven yelled back.

_We're leaking oxygen! Switching to auxiliary!_ BeastBoy reported.

_Starfire! Where are these things? What's shooting at us?_ Robin yelled over the multiple high-pitched alarms.

_They are…everywhere! I am reading multiple aggressors below us on the ice-field!_ Starfire said, astounded.

_**SLAMSLAM!**_

Robin and Cyborg accessed Starfires radar screen. Sure enough, displayed in the green camera tracking system, were hundreds of small black dots, peppering the icescape. They appeared and disappeared quickly, firing off short rounds of charged red energy. Most of the shots only flew past the ship, in random attack fashion. Others struck the ship with devastating results.

_**SLAM!**_

_**SLAMSLAM!**_

_They're popping out of the glacier like tulips! The ship is gettin' pummeled!_ Cyborg bellowed, as he tried to bypass a damaged relay circuit.

_What are they? Any radiation levels, or energy fluctuations?_ Robin asked.

_Red Star destroyed that monster, didn't he? So what's shooting at us!_ BeastBoy yelled, his cockpit becoming cloudy.

_My controls are dead! Nothing's responding!_ Raven reported, shielding her eyes from a sparkling control panel.

A short, urgent alarm began signaling in Robin's cockpit. **'Perfect, now what?**_' _He thought.

/WARNING. WARNING./ came the programmed female voice of the ships computer.

/HULL INTEGRITY COMPROMISED. FUEL PRESSURE AT 45 AND FALLING. T-SHIP ALTITUDE DECAYING AT FATAL VELOCITY./

_That's a bad thing, isn't it?_ BeastBoy said, before becoming a jelly fish in order to smother the small fire in his cockpit.

_These things hit harder than that radiation behemoth that shot us down over Siberia!_ Cyborg yelled. _But I'm not getting anything on the Geiger counter!_

The smoke was becoming caustic, and Starfire was having a hard time breathing. _Should we not eject? The ship has become a (COUGH) very unpleasant place to be!_

_I'm with Star!_ BeastBoy yelled, his instrumentation flickering.

_It's no good! The ship-wide ejection protocol won't execute my command!_ Cyborg said, fighting with his joy-stick.

_**SLAM!**_

_We're at two-thousand feet and (COUGH) falling!_ Robin said, trying to clear the soot off of his visor.

_I can't…hea…com system…-ailure! _Raven yelled, trying to get her microphone to function.

_**SLAM! CRUNCH!**_

BeastBoy's console went dark. All he could see were the flashes of red light, and feel the tremors of the falling ship, as the constant alarms kept going off in his sensitive ears. The snow and ice were getting much closer now, and the sensation of careening out of control was getting to his stomach.

_**RRRRRIP! SLAM!**_

Raven, her head dizzy and her eyes getting weaker, took one last glance across the hull of the T-Ship.

She could feel Starfires terror.

She could feel Robin's refusal to give in.

Cyborgs aggravation was almost palpable as he wrestled with the failing computer.

BeastBoy found her eyes in the swirling chaos. Raven held his gaze.

She felt his fear. But it was different, newer, and more vibrant. It was a unique fear.

It was his fear for her. Her safety.

She held that feeling, and his eyes, for as long as she could.

And then the T-Ship was ripped in two.


	5. Survive

_I Own NOTHING...well, at least, nothing but this story. Warner Bros own Teen Titans, as does DC. Yea, bunch of over-paid producers who don't know how to end a series correctly. (Whoops...did I say that?) Read and Review! _

**Chap. 5: Survive**

His legs were pinned. Useable, but pinned. The blood was draining from his legs down into his hips and chest, and he was becoming lightheaded. But at least he could move.

It was obvious that he was upside down, but he couldn't for the life of him remember the details about how he had ended up where he was. The attack...flashes of crimson light...the ship ripping like crate paper...and then nothing.

One thing he was sure of, however, was that his safety restraint was cutting off the circulation to his lower body. He would have to worry about details later.

Robin produced a Birdarang from his utility belt, and used it to slice through his seat restraints. Once loosened, he was able to wiggle his legs free of the crushed directional panel. While his legs could move, there was a soreness to them which he was not accustomed to. Falling from his seat onto the glass canopy of his cockpit didn't help much either.

Below him and through the glass, Robin could see the ground only a few feet away. As expected, the canopy ejector failsafe was not functioning. He would have to improvise.

A few seconds, and one less freeze disc later, Robin was able to shatter his upside down coffin. His fall to the snow and ice below was less than acrobatic.

'_Where am I?' _Robin wondered as he stood, attempting to regain his sense of direction.

Everything was white. The wind seemed to be made of white powder, and it stung against his bleeding face. The sky was slowly becoming light again, but the terrain was still gray and unrecognizable. His only point of reference was mangled section of the T-Ship, lying sideways and on its head in almost five feet of snow, its residue fuel burning near the sections under-plating. Everything else was a windy, freezing, dark world of ice.

At least it **_was_**. Until Robin saw the small light some fifty yards away.

'_I hope they're OK. Please, PLEASE let them be OK.' _Robin thought as he half ran, half limped on his sprained leg to the small burning light.

After fighting a slight uphill battle with waist deep snow, Robin came upon the source of the light in the breaking arctic dawn.

It was a T-Ship section, alright. One he recognized.

And it was burning out of control.

'_No…**Starfire!**…this isn't happening, this ISN'T happening!' _His mind screamed as he almost fell down the snow bank in his rush.

She ship section, the right wing module, was on fire, and embedded maybe eight feet into the ice shelf. The paint and metal were twisted and wrenched in the most bizarre fashion, and her personal fuel supply bled openly upon the ground, staining the snow.

Starfire was hanging upside down from her shattered canopy. She wasn't moving.

"Starfire! Wake up! Please, _wake up!_" Robin yelled as he carefully pulled her from her would-be burning coffin.

Her head was bruised and her cheek was cut deeply. Her hair was plastered against her body with her sweat, and her pulse was weak.

"I have to get you away from this heap." Robin said to himself, his voice masked by the howling wind.

Carrying her across his chest, and shifting his weight to his good leg, Robin made a hasty retreat from the wreckage behind him. The wind had begun to pick up as the sky became lighter. The snow was deep as ever and getting worse.

"I'm gonna find us some shelter, Star. Just stay with me!" Robin said, trying to comfort his unconscious friend.

Robin's legs were on fire, regardless of the temperature and the wind. His chest ached with fresh pain, and his mask was quickly becoming covered in snow as fine as baby-powder. His heavy cape caused drag in the multi-directional wind, and it slowed him down. But his mind was focused on something more pressing than his own comfort.

'_She'll be OK…she has to be…' _he thought.

Upon reaching his section of the ship, Robin had thought of a plan. He placed Starfire on the far side of the overturned section, shielding her as best he could from the wind. With a small shriek of compressed steel, Robin deployed his retractable bow-staff, and stuck it underneath the buried section of the ship.

He put his full weight on the other end of the staff, and pulled down. _'Come on…come on…turn over you piece of scrap...you can do it…!' _Robin encouraged himself.

His lever maneuver bore very little fruit. He tried again, using all the strength in his arms, and pulled.

At about this time, the fire upon Starfire's section of the T-ship finally found its way to the fuel line.

Ba-**_BOOOOM! _**

Two thousand pounds of auxiliary jet fuel went off all at once. The shockwave carried the heat in all directions for at least one-hundred yards, shaking the ice itself.

Robin had no time to react. He was propelled off of his feet, over his cockpit, headfirst into the ground. The ship section was turned over from the blast, and now stood upright on the ground, rocking back and forth from the shockwave, creaking in the wind.

Starfire felt the heat from the explosion, and slowly, very slowly, began to awaken.

'_Oh…uhh…why does it feel like the Grand Teleekian Gorka Ensemble is playing in my head?' _Starfire thought as she sat up in the snow.

The wind stung her eyes and the cold made her skin feel tight and uncomfortable. She stood shakily upon her bruised legs, and tried to get her bearings. Her skin was reminded of the numbing cold she had endured in the far north, and her sweaty hair was beginning to freeze against her forehead. She clenched her teeth and attempted to warmth her body, but became slightly ill with the sight of her own blood upon her shoulder and clothing.

It was then that she noticed the crumpled pile of clothing next to her. "Robin!"

She rushed to the side of her leader, and pulled him swiftly but gently from the snow. His eyes were closed, and his skin was a darker color than the one she was used to admiring from afar.

She tried shaking him. "Robin! Why do you not move? Please, awaken! _Please!_" She pleaded with him, her heart beating faster and faster.

She then looked at the burning hull of her ship module several yards away, and the drag marks from it to their current position. The bobbling ship section directly behind her still seemed to be in one piece, but it was damaged too.

She saw what had happened in a glance. "We will be the OK, Robin! I promise…you helped me, now let me help you. We will be alright…we will be alright…"

Starfire fought the wind as she walked towards Robin's segment of the ship. She managed a short climb, up the pulverized metal and broken glass, to the pilot seat within.

Once atop it, Starfire attempted to carefully slip her unconscious leader into the cockpit, feet first. The wind buffered them and Starfire found it difficult to be as gentle as she wanted to be. But two minutes, and about twenty pounds of snow later, both were sitting down.

Starfire began manipulating toggles and flipping familiar switches, while simultaneously keeping her hair out of her eyes and shoveling snow out of the confined space. "Where ARE you? You must be here…"

She touched the heads up display on the control board, brushing ice and chared plastic from the glass screen. "Please function…please function…"

A ping sound could be heard, and then a familiar monotone female voice.

/C.P.U. ONLINE. AWAITING COMMAND/

"Titan STARFIRE, requesting Emergency Canopy Renewal Program. Execute!" Starfire yelled over the wind and snow.

/INVALID REQUEST. PLEASE RE-STATE/

Starfire didn't have _time_ for this stubborn machine. "This is Titan STARFIRE, you floorgtank tweedlesnik! I request an Emergency Canopy Renewal Program: NOW!"

/PROCESSING…PROCESSING…/

'_Please, I will do WHATEVER you ask if you just comply…pleasepleaseplease**pleeeeeeeease**…' _Starfire prayed to the computer.

With a loud WOOSH, and short blast of pressurized air, Starfire watched with relief as a second glass canopy unfolded itself from behind the two Titans, covering their heads, and finally shutting off the icy wind.

/PROGRAM SEQUENCE COMPLETE/

"Oh, thank Zaul! I mean…thank you computer!" Starfire said with a bright smile.

Starfire turned to her leader, who was effectively sitting on her lap, inches from her face.

A fiery color rose to her cheeks for a moment as she looked upon her leaders pale complexion. She had never been this close to Robin before. At least, not in a very long time.

She gave a small smile, and opened a side compartment on her left. As expected, inside lay a large, tightly folded blanket, couple of medical supplies and spare weaponry.

She positioned Robin so that his head was on her shoulder, and wrapped the blanket, and her arms, around them both. "I hope this will keep us warm. I have heard that hypothermia is deadly on this planet." She said softly to Robin's cold face.

Robin's head fell limply on her shoulder, and her anxiety deepened. So much so, that her words began spilling out of her mouth, her grief starting to sink in. She was accustomed to speaking for long periods of time without taking a breath, but usually it was because she was excited. Right now, she was border-line panicky.

"Robin," Starfire said as she held him close, "You need to wake up… you can't _leave_ me here alone."

No response. Starfire began frantically rubbing her hands up and down his cold flesh, trying to create warmth through friction.

"I have so much to show you Robin…so much I want to share with you. So you see, you MUSTN'T go…you _can't._ " She whispered, stroking his icy hair.

Still nothing.

"…you need to wake up!" Star choked out, the saltiness of her tears stinging her injured cheek. "The Titans need you…they need you to guide them… to awaken! **_I _**need you to awaken…"

Nothing but the howling of the wind, and Starfire's whispered crying.

"…I need **_you_**…"

Her only response was the cold loneliness of the Arctic terrain, and the creaking of the ship in the freezing wind. She couldn't even hear Robin's weak breath over the oppressive din.

All she could do was wait.

Wait and pray for Robin.

And for a miracle.


	6. Rescue

_Your reviews are too kind, really. As some of you may not know, I already have about 3/4 of this story complete and waiting on my computer. This is chapter 6, but I have 13 completed. I could submit them all at once, but then I would have little or no time to give proper creative consideration to the remaining chaps. ( I think I will have 20 in all, maybe as many as 22) I would ask that you try to remian patient with me, for I write as often as I have free time, which is more-so on weekends. To compensate, I will attempt to post the chapters I have completed as often as possible. Please read and review, it seriously helps my day when I read feedback. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: Oh, yea, me no own Teen Titans. _

**Chap. 6: Rescue**

'_This guy may weigh only four-hundred and fifty, but dragging him is a PAIN.' _BeastBoy thought to himself.

A large, green Polar Bear could be seen walking along the ridge of a six-hundred foot tall glacier, dragging a large piece of sheet metal behind it. The wind flew off of the sea and into the frozen cliffs, creating a freezing updraft that pierced even the thickest part of BeastBoy's shaggy lime colored fur. He could just make out the ocean below, even though his vision wasn't too keen, and the snow and ice didn't help much either.

'_And Cyborg calls ME dead weight.' _BeastBoy thought as he dragged his friend across the ice.

Cyborg lay across the large piece of metal that hand once been a section of the T-Ships right wing. His organic appendages, as well as the right side of his head, had been automatically covered by hidden, weather resistant shields that protected his susceptible organic flesh in hostile conditions. The downside was that Cyborg had automatically slipped into hibernation mode, and couldn't move on his own.

Hence BeastBoy's makeshift rickshaw service. _'This guy needs to lay off the waffles.' _He thought.

BeastBoy's sensitive nose suddenly picked up the acrid smell of burning rubber and plastic, and the heady scent of jet fuel. _'Where is THAT coming from?' _

BeastBoy's clawed feet followed his nose, along the ridge, until the smell became stronger and more constant. The wind and falling snow obscured his already weak vision, but a new sight in the world of white became apparent before him.

Imbedded in the side of the cliff face, about ten feet below the ledge, and several hundred feet above the deadly fall to the sea, was part of the T-Ship.

Ravens part.

"Raven!" BeastBoy called out, dropping the cable he was dragging and morphing back.

The brisk jog across the ice and the precarious edge heightened his senses somewhat, and he was able to gauge his surroundings. The sky was still the deep gray it had been an hour ago, and his sensitive nose could not detect any animals in the immediate vicinity.

But the position of the ship, coupled with the instability of the ice falling around it, gave BeastBoy a whole other reason to worry.

"I'm commin', Rae! Just hold on to…something!" BeastBoy yelled down the side of the precipice.

BeastBoy morphed a snowy owl, and flew down to the damaged craft, fighting the wind. He landed on a snow covered piece of shredded metal, his talons digging into the steel for balance.

His powerful eyes showed him everything. _'She's hurt…she's bleeding…' _BeastBoy's mind raced.

'_I have to get her out of there.' _BB thought, as he morphed a gorilla and tried to pull open her cracked canopy frame. "Hang on, Rae! I'm right here!"

_**CRRRREEEEAK!**_

BeastBoy faced the cliff, and stared at the embedded part of the craft. _'Oooooh no…"_

The twisted metal was starting to tug free of the cliff face!

BeastBoy redoubled his efforts, grunting as he pulled at the frame.

'_Come on come on come on…open up, darn you…!'_

**_CRASH! _**The glass gave way, and the wind ruffled the young Goths blue hair.

"Yes!" BB yelled, jumping up and down with glee.

_**CRUNCH!**_

Instinctively, BeastBoy jumped off of the craft, and flew eagle-style back to the cliff ledge. He watched the craft below him, Raven sitting in the now open cockpit.

'_It's falling…it's FALLING!' _BeastBoy thought frantically!

BeastBoy watched everything unfold below him, helpless to stop it.

The crumbling ice…

The sliding of the ship…

Realizing his pterodactyl morph could never carry that much weight…

Raven's beautiful face, sliding away…

The wind pushing the ship into the open, freezing air…

And from out of nowhere…

_**ARE YOU JUST GOING TO WATCH…?**_

'_What?' _BeastBoy thought, shocked.

_**SHE NEEDS YOU, GARFIELD…**_

'_She needs my help…' _BeastBoy thought.

_**SHE NEEDS YOU…AND YOU NEED HER…**_

'_Yes.' _BeastBoy said, already beginning his new morph.

_**CATCH HER GARFIELD…CATCH YOUR RAVEN…**_

BeastBoy acted.

Just as the ship had left its place in the side of the cliff, and flew out into the open air…

**CHOMP!**

The front of the craft was smashed in on itself, in the grip of powerful jaws. It stopped, in mid air, held tight by massive hooked teeth and the machine-like muscles of a massive neck, eight feet around.

Using his fifteen foot tail for balance, BeastBoy the Tyrannosaurus lifted Raven, and her ship, back over the edge of the cliff, and back onto the glacier. His poor hearing could barely make out the sound of all the falling ice as it cascaded down the side of the cliff, and into the killing surf below.

'_Yuck! Tastes like motor oil!' _BeastBoy thought as he gently set the ruined ship upon the ice.

Once it was down, BeastBoy shifted form into a snow leopard, and leapt upon the disfigured hunk of metal. He swiped through the restraints of Ravens command seat with hi razor-like claws, and picked her up out of the ship.

Being careful not to touch her in a way that would certainly get him maimed later, BeastBoy carried Raven away from the ragged ship, and laid her gently upon the wind-worn ice.

'_Great. One problem dealt with.' _BeastBoy thought, looking at his friends. _'Now what the heck do I do?' _

Cyborg was quickly becoming covered by snow. His body was well protected against the elements, and would be until he reactivated himself.

Raven, on the other hand…

'_I've got to get them out of the wind. But where do I go? Come on, BeastBoy, think!' _He yelled in his head.

He cradled Ravens head in his hands, brushing the snow away from the large laceration across her forehead and temple. Her breath came out in shallow puffs of steam, and her skin seemed whiter than he remembered.

'_I've gotta get away from this cliff. OK, OK, **THINK **BB. How do Eskimos keep warm out here?' _He puzzled. And it came to him.

'_Igloo's! That's right…great…an igloo…that's what I need!' _

But his face fell at his own conclusion. _'Fantastic…like **I** know how to make an igloo.' _

Ravens head tilted in the wind, and BeastBoy's already throbbing head was getting worse. He looked towards the sky. "I could use a hint, here!" he yelled over the wind.

And he got it. Off to his left, perhaps fifty miles away, and barely visible through the snow, BeastBoy could just make out a shape.

"Mountains? Are those…mountains?" BB asked no-one.

They were mountains; mountains of ice in the far distance. And they were quickly becoming hidden by the snow once more.

"That's good enough for me!" BeastBoy hollered, and bent down over Raven once more. "But how do I carry you without you freezing?"

Then it came to him. It would be tricky, and somewhat unorthodox, but it had to work.

He once more assumed the form of the Tyrant King of Lizards. His massive feet pounded the ice as he walked over to Cyborgs stiff form.

Bending his massive frame over, BB used his two arms to hook under Cyborgs snow-covered body, and stood up. Although small in comparison to his body, each arm could curl over five-hundred pounds, and so carrying the cybernetic organism was all the easier to do.

Raven was a more unstable and dangerous task. But it would have to do if Raven was to survive the trip across the arctic wasteland.

Opening his gigantic four-foot-long mouth, BeastBoy scooped up the limp body of Raven into his jaws. He could taste her blood, but he kept his animal instincts under control as he maneuvered her body around in his mouth with his muscular tongue.

He moved her arms and legs around, and her head, until he felt her take the fetal position in his mouth. Once he was sure her head and everything else were clear of his banana sized teeth, he carefully, VERY carefully, closed his mouth.

'_She'll be out of the cold this way. She should be fine like this.' _BeastBoy reasoned, keeping his jaws somewhat ajar so that Raven didn't suffocate. _'I hope.' _

With that, BeastBoy faced away from the cliffs, in the direction the wind was blowing to, and began to run. The curved talons on his toes, larger than meat hooks, dug into the surface of the ice, giving him excellent traction as he propelled his sixteen thousand pound body across the blisteringly cold land.

'_You'll be OK Raven. Understand me?' _BB told her in his head. _'You survived the wave, the ambush, and the crash. No WAY a little cold is going to stop you.' _

The only sounds he heard were the thunder of his own foot-falls, and the sound of his claws scraping against Cyborgs titanium skin, and his own thudding heartbeat. He kept hoping that Raven would wake up soon, but not so soon as to have her awaken in the jaws of a green behemoth with _really _big teeth; it might give her a heart-attack.

'_I'm gonna find us a place to warm up…and you're gonna be just fine…be ragging on my jokes in no time.' _He thought as he ran.

'_Raven? Guess what? You're not nuts! I heard the voice too! It told me to do the same thing it told you…clear as a bell!' _BeastBoy said, reassuring himself more than her. He had to stay concious and as alert as possible. If he didn't, his reptilian body would be defeated by the sub-zero temperatures. There's a reason why dinosaurs never made it to the ice age; they weren't built to withstand it. So he just kept talking to stave off the cold.

'_It told me to help you…to catch you…and I did! Snap, right out of the air!' _He thought, remembering the message.

'_And when it talked to you, you saved me! And I was OK afterwards! So you know what that means, right?' _

Nothing.

'_It means you have to be alright too! I did what it told me…so you have to be alright…it **said** you would be alright…' _BeastBoy thought frantically.

Nothing but the dead wind.

'…_**I **say you have to be alright…' _

If it's possible for a Tyrannosaurus Rex to cry, its huge tears were lost to the fierce wind, as were BeastBoy's massive footprints, as he ran for all he was worth towards the phantom mountains in the distance.

BeastBoy knew no ache. No fatigue. No limits. His blood began to feel like sludge in his veins, and his nose was soon crusted in prickling frost.

He kept running. One of the largest land predators to ever walk to Earth was on a mission, and a little ice wouldn't stop it now.

He _had_ to run. Run not only for his life, but for the life of his friends.

If he stopped running, they would die.

So he never stopped.


	7. Decisions

_In all honesty, I didn't think this story would take very well. I've been reading Teen Titan's fanfiction for the better part of three years, and I've seen some fairlyincredible literary works. I just hope that mine meets the standards of all those thousands of other Teen Titans fans. As always, I thank you for your reviews, and hope to recieve many more as this story progresses. I will update as soon as I am able, so please, read and review! Enjoy. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titan's. They would make a kick-ass birthday present though. _

**Chap. 7: Decisions**

"Starfire?"

At first, she couldn't believe her ears. It had to be a side effect of her injuries or maybe loss of blood. Or perhaps the wind playing tricks on her ears.

But whatever it was, it was persistent. "_Starfir_e. Wake up."

Groggily, and almost reluctantly, Starfire slowly opened her bright green eyes. Her arms were still wrapped tightly around Robin's mid-section, but his head was no longer on her shoulder.

And his eyes were no longer closed. "Hey, sleepy-head."

She couldn't contain her relief. "Robin! You are…_awake_!"

"Yup." Robin said, his eyes once more shiny behind his mask.

"And…undamaged?" Star asked, leaning back and touching his shoulders.

"For the most part." He winked.

**POW!**

Of all the things Robin expected from Starfire at that moment, a punch in the chest was not one of them. Especially one that felt like a baseball bat smacking his sternum. He suddenly found it difficult to breathe in the cramp-cockpit.

"OW! What the-…Starfire, what was _that_ for!" Robin practically yelled, the wind almost knocked out of him.

"You scared the _PLACQUEL _out of me!" Starfire said back, her eyes suddenly wet with fresh tears.

"I…I what?" Robin asked, the pain suddenly gone with his confusion.

"You would not wake up!" Starfire continued, not losing a beat. "You would not _breathe_ normally and your face became pale and your skin was much _colder_ than it should have been and when I asked you _nicely_ to talk to me you would not and…and…"

Her words became lost in her growing sadness. Robin tried to recap. "Whoa, slow down Starfire! What do you mean I wasn't breathing normally? How did you manage-?"

His words were cut off when Starfire wrapped her arms around his neck, and forcefully placed her lips upon his.

For a second, time had no meaning, nor did the pain in either of their bodies. Although a pleasant feeling of familiarity swept quickly through both teens.

'_Oh, My God…' _was the only thing that passed through Robins mind.

Starfire molded her body to his, her hand lost in the damp mess of his hair. His lips were soft and he tasted vaguely like ice water, and the feeling of his arms squeezing her close made her apprehension melt.

Robin accepted her lips, almost timidly, meeting the pleasant assault with his own. He remembered this sensation from the first time it had happened, many years ago. She still smelled like something wild and sweet, and her skin felt warm against his cold palms. His whole body felt relaxed and placid, as if he were floating.

Neither wanted it to end. But each pushed away from the other slightly, their lips hanging on to each others till the last second.

Between ragged breaths, Robin opened his eyes. "Starfire…that was…I mean…_why_ did you…?"

Starfire hugged him close again, her lips at his ear.

"I thought you had _left_ me, Robin!" she whispered fiercely, staring straight ahead with watery eyes.

He couldn't respond.

"You…you were _gone_ and I never…never had the chance to…"

The boy wonder tightened his grip around his princess, inhaling the honeysuckle scent of her bright hair. "I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere. I promise you Starfire…I _promise_…"

Starfire did not need to say anymore. She let her leader, her best friend, and her closest companion, hold her. Her sobs became less urgent, and her body began to relax.

'_He is alright. He came back…back to **me**…' _She thought with a smile as her heart hummed with joy.

As if reading her mind, Robin said, "It'll take a lot more to do _me_ in. You can't get rid of me _that_ easily."

"But, I do not wish to get rid of you at _all_!" Starfire said her eyes frantic again.

Robin couldn't help but smile. A genuine, honest smile. He leaned forward, and placed a small kiss on Starfire's lips, whispering, "I know. So I'll stick around. OK?"

She smiled the smile he loved, heaving a relieved sigh. "Yes. OK."

"Thank you, Starfire. For saving my life. _Again_." Robin said, stroking her cheek.

"I believe we are about 'even' as you might say." Starfire said, winking.

"By the way…where are we?" Robin asked, looking up at their snow covered capsule.

Starfire looked up, and immediately charged a star-bolt. "Duck your head, please!"

Robin complied, and with a quick shattering sound and flash of green light, the once dark cockpit was flooded with soft, red-gray glow. Small clumps of snow fell upon their heads. They shook themselves, removed the thermal blanket from around their bodies, and stood up on the pilot seat.

"We go through a lot of canopies that way." Robin said, brushing the glass from his hair.

The snow-storm had passed. Or at least, it looked like it had. Dark clouds were threatening the eastern sky, black and ominous, but keeping their distance. To the northwest, the sun, red as blood, was shrinking below the frozen horizon, its light casting an eerie glow over the endless field of white before them.

Starfire was thoroughly impressed. "What a magnificent sunrise! Such _colors_!"

Robin surveyed the landscape, a worried look on his face. "It's pretty, Star, but I'm afraid this is a sun_set_."

"The sun is setting? But we could not have been unconscious for that amount of time to pass. How is that possible?" she asked, bewildered.

"We are really far south, Star." Robin explained. "The sun is only out for a short time down here. And, given the date, we may not have a sunrise again for a while."

"What do you mean? How long will the night-time last in this cold environment?" she asked.

"A couple of weeks. Maybe longer." Robin admitted.

"You mean…we will have to complete our mission…in the dark?" Starfire asked, clutching her left elbow.

Robin turned to her, his face covered in the fiery red of the dieing sun. "Be honest with me Star: how do you feel?"

Taken aback, but wanting to be honest, Starfire said, "I am…anxious. Worried…and a little afraid." She finished softly, her voice carried off by the freezing wind.

"I've got a secret for you." Robin said, causing Starfire to cock her head to one side.

"I'm afraid too." he said, just above a whisper.

Starfire's hair tussled in the wind, and she knit her brow. "But…how? You are never afraid, never worried. You are our fearless leader."

"I'm far from fearless." Robin said, folding his arms at the sunset. "I'm confident, and brave. But I've always had my team to rely on. I've always had a back-up, some kind of contingency plan to work with. Now…I'm not sure _what_ to do."

Starfire gave a soft look to her leader, and hooked her arm through his. "May I make a suggestion?"

Robin looked at her, his face serious, and said, "By all means."

"The simplest course of action is often the correct one." Star explained, looking at the sunset. "We must find our friends. Once we regroup, we will be able to formulate a plan as to how to find SLADE, and open numerous cans of the 'butt-whoop' upon him. Then we will be able to leave this cold, unfriendly place…and go _home_."

Robin seemed to consider this for a second. The wind ruffled his cape, and eyes set themselves upon his beautiful companion.

And he smiled.

Jumping out of the cockpit, Robin landed gracefully on the ice beside his ship segment. He quickly took his communicator from his utility belt, and placed it upon cold metal on the side of his cockpit.

"Robin? What are you doing?" Star asked, leaning over to watch.

"Can you fly?" Robin asked as he worked.

"Fly? Yes…for a while. But with the lack of sunlight, I am not sure how long I will be able to maintain…"

"I understand. And you need your powers for the fight with SLADE." Robin said, pressing a special code into his communicator. "So you should save them for as long as possible."

"But if I am to walk with you, we shall not travel at a sufficient speed to find our friends, locate Slade, and stop his heinous plot." Starfire protested.

"Who said anything about walking?" Robin asked.

With that, a large section of Robin's ship began to slide out from the smashed remnants of his craft. It was about seven feet long, and looked like an armored water ski-do. It was yellow and red, and had a large, encapsulating shell stretching from the front of the skis to the back of the seat.

Starfire watched in wonder as the new machine unfolded itself from its hidden cubicle. A soft, familiar computerized voice sounded off when the release process was complete.

/TITAN ICE MASTER DEPLOYED. AWAITING COMMAND./

"I figured that if we were going to be traveling through the arctic, bring arctic friendly equipment." Robin explained, placing a helmet on his head. "It's a gift from Red Star's village. They let us keep itafter we destroyed that monster, soI brought it along.You know…a contingency plan."

"Wonderful!" Starfire exclaimed floating down beside Robin. "You shall be able to travel swiftly with this device, correct?"

"Yes. WE will." Robin said, throwing Starfire a helmet. "Jump in."

Starfire quickly placed the helmet on her orange head, and stepped inside the vehicle behind Robin. She swung one leg over the long seat, and wrapped her arms snuggly around Robin's middle.

"We should head south by south west, in the direction Raven's coordinates were taking us. We have a full tank. I just hope that's enough so that we can get to the others." Robin said, his voice slightly muffled. "You with me, Star?"

Starfire gave him a reassuring squeeze. "Always, Robin. _Always_."

She could faintly make out the smile through the tinted glass of her leaders helmet. It warmed her in a way she clung to for as long as it lasted.

The press of a button, and the weather shield covered both Titans in a protective cocoon. Robin switched on the heater, revved up the two-hundred horse power engine, gunned the throttle, and sent both occupants careening across the ice towards the sunset.

Robin kept his eyes on the ice, but relished the feeling of Starfire's arms around him.

Even as he raced off into the wasteland, Robin was still unsure of what to do once he found his friends, and confronted SLADE.

But for now, he was with Starfire.

And that's all that Robin needed.


	8. Cave

_This is officially a runaway story. The thoughts just keep coming to me, often faster than I can comprehend, or type. I'm not particularly proud of this chapter, but I know that Raven/BeastBoy fans have been waiting for this for a few days now. I hope that my vernacular is as life-like as I had hoped, because these characters have become as real as life to me. I do hope you are spreading this story to friends and other fans, and, as always, I greatly appreciate reviews. More to come over the weekend. Enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: This is getting old, but yea, I don't own this comic or the characters in it. If I did, I'd have more integrity in my production of the Teen Titans TV series: I wouldn't leave y'all with a cliffhanger as a series finale. _

**Chap. 7: Cave**

Opening her eyes was painful. That was one of the first things she noticed.

But she was warm.

Her arms seemed sluggish. There was a deep throbbing in her hips, like an old bee sting.

But she _was _warm.

Her chest felt like a huge weight sat upon it. Her head was practically screaming inside.

But she was WARM.

Raven slowly blinked her eyes open. They were blurry and somewhat unfocused. But she could see.

For some reason, the floor upon which she lay was green. Bright neon green. It was smooth and cold, like frozen glass. Her breath became steam as she exhaled upon it.

'_But why is everything green?' _she pondered.

She turned her head, a painful process in and of itself, towards the source of the green illumination above her.

'_Glow sticks?' _Raven wondered.

Sure enough, about six feet above her head, imbedded into the ceiling, were eleven or twelve chemical glow sticks, shining a bright jade.

'_OK…weird. VERY weird.' _The young telekinetic thought. Ignoring the aching feeling in her stomach and ribs, Raven wiggled her arms free of her snug chrysalis, pushed herself up into a sitting position, and looked around.

The whole scene around her was surreal. Raven sat inside what felt like an extra fluffy sleeping bag, wrapped tightly around her entire body, save her head. Her muscles hurt and her joints were stiff, and lying flat on a solid, frozen surface didn't help matters much.

She felt the cold radiating off of the walls of the ice cave. But it was a stable cold, one that did not deepen. The walls were sheer and smooth, formed over countless years into an almost teepee-like shape around her. They went all the way down to the nearly level cave floor.

Except in the far corner.

"Cyborg?" Raven choked out, her voice crackly and rough.

Under an overhanging ledge, the ice hanging maybe a foot above his head, laid her cybernetic companion. His arms lay at his sides, his legs straight in front of him, and for some reason, his organic parts were covered with metal sheaths, and she could no longer see his face.

Raven scooted the three foot distance between them, and looked at his face beneath the overhanging ice. Upon the right side of his head, covering his human eye, sat a black display panel. Upon it, displayed in red letters with a countdown presentation, was a message.

# RECOVERY MODE ACTIVATED. REANIMATION IN **14**_HR_:**10**_MN_:**37**_SC_#

"He's out cold." Raven said, examining Cyborgs shielding devices.

She felt something slip from around her head. When she touched it, she found it to be a tightly wound piece of cloth, tied around a large cut on her head. She could barely make out the end of the black-purple material on her temple.

'_But_ w_here did THIS come from?' _she thought, fingering the stretchy cloth.

"GRRRRrrrr….."

The tiny hairs on the back of Ravens neck stood up, and she suddenly felt colder. The sound was close, and deep. It sounded very throaty, like it came from something big.

The dark young woman turned on her knees, looking around the cave. She didn't think she had missed anything when she looked around, but she had been wrong.

At the other end of the cave was a tunnel. It was only two feet tall and maybe seven feet wide, but it extended into the cave wall for maybe ten feet.

Keeping the sleeping bag around her body, Raven half crawled to the mouth of the tunnel and, kneeling down slightly, peered down the small burrow of ice.

Lying on his stomach, his head on his paws, was a Tiger.

A green Siberian Tiger.

"What is he doing all the way down _there_?" she whispered to herself.

"GRRRRRRRRrrrrr_rowlllll_..." came the low rumble from the sleeping BeastBoy, his whiskers twitching.

Raven watched as his large chest would rise and fall as he breathed, his breath coming out in large clouds upon the ice. He took up nearly all the space in the tunnel, his long body stretching from one side to the other, and almost to the roof of the tunnel. Raven could see the wind blow just over the top of his big shoulders, where a small pile of snow had formed.

Raven understood what he was doing at a glance.

'_He's blocking the wind and snow,' _Raven thought to herself, _'and using his body to do it.'_

"He must be _freezing._" Raven thought aloud, her heart struck with a sudden pang of pity. And the thought caused her to look down.

It was pink, purple and green. The sleeping bag she sat in was pink, purple, and green, and had two large embroidered 'B's upon the top, with little paw-prints used to underline the capital letters.

"You…you _gave _me your sleeping bag?" Raven asked the sleeping cat.

Many things came back to Raven at that moment. The crash…the ocean…cold winds…

And how someone was talking to her in her head...coaxing her...trying to awaken her...

As was usual, especially when not concentrating, Raven's emotions, specifically the ones she _didn't_ want to deal with, would pop up to have a talk with her in her head. Subconsciously, Raven would appear upon the rocky and desolate wastes of Nevermore, where all of her emotional personifications would approach her. Their technicolor fashion statements allowed each to be identified by appearance, even if their behavior was completely unpredictable.

Strangely enough, they always seemed to take _turns_ bothering her.

"_Aww! Doesn't BeastBoy look cute? All curled up like that?" _Chirped Happy.

"_Dude's got chutzpah, puttin' up with all that cold." _Bravery admired.

"_Won't he be cranky and irritated when he gets up?" _Timid whispered.

"_His significant mass and thick feline epidermis should provide him with adequate body heat." _observed Knowledge.

"_But why did he give us his sleeping bag? Won't he need it?" _Curiosity wondered.

"_If he thinks he's going to SHARE it with us…" _Anxiety dreaded.

"_Just leave him be. He's tired. We're tired. EVERYBODIES tired. Robo-Boy in the corner there has the right idea." _yawned Laziness.

"_Should we wake him? Thank him for the use of his sleepy-bag?" _Eager asked, her eyes big and orange, like her cape.

"_Its sleep-ING bag, oaf." _Knowledge said. _"Although she has a point. We should make our appreciation known to him for the use of his thermal sleeping device." _

"_Yay! Let's get him some sunflower seeds! He likes those, right?" _Asked Joy.

"_Yea, right! Where are we gonna find sunflower seeds in the arctic?" _Annoyance sneered.

"_What's the point? It's not like he would notice anyway." _Despair shrugged.

"_Do we want him to notice? And if so, what should we make him notice?" _Curiosity pondered.

"_Of COURSE we want him to notice. We certainly noticed HIM, didn't we?" _Desire chimed in.

Raven listened to each of her separate personalities, giving them equal attention and consideration, in the hopes that they would eventually leave her be. But Desire had caught her attention.

'_What did you mean by THAT?' _Raven asked her dark-cloaked emotion.

"_I'm just saying that we have noticed him lately. The way he fights…his clothing…how he's been working out…that mischievous smile of his…" _Desired marveled.

'_Is this true?' _Raven said, addressing the other emotions in her head.

There was a unanimous nod from her other selves. _"That is fairly accurate." _Knowledge said, adjusting her glasses.

"_But that's not ALL we have noticed. Not by a long shot." _Honesty offered freely.

'_This isn't HAPPENING,' _Raven thought, distressed. _'Why is my mind **obsessed** with the green-bean?' _

"_That's easy." _Happy said her face all smiles.

"_He's good in a fight…" _said Bravery.

"_He's always got a joke in his back pocket…albeit lame, but a joke…" _Added Humor.

"_He's always nice to us…and he doesn't have to be…" _Timid spoke up.

"_His knowledge and tact with animal transformations has greatly improved…" _Knowledge postured.

"_He goes with the flow…no worry lines on that guy…" _Lazy garbled.

"_And we are VERY interested in what he thinks of us…" _Curiosity pointed out excitedly, holding her knees to her chest.

"_Not to mention what the **voice **said…" _Joy whispered excitedly.

"_The VOICE!" _cried every emotion in Raven's head, their obsession uncontainable.

'_You mean the voice I heard in my head yesterday?' _Raven asked, as her and Curiosity peaked their attention.

But now it was of no use to try and talk to all of her jumbled emotions. They were all talking to each other far too excitedly to have a civil conversation anymore.

"_Where did the voice come from?"_

"_Is it friendly?"_

"_How should I know? It came out of no where."_

"_This new entity must be carefully monitored."_

"_Who has the time for that?"_

"_Maybe we can wrestle it to the…uh…ground!" _

"_Whatever you say, Butch."_

"_WHAT did you call me?"_

"_This isn't the time for fisticuffs."_

"_I hope it likes us."_

"_Sure it does! Why else would it have asked us to help BB?"_

"_Since when is it 'BB'?" _

"_This is getting **good!**" _

"_Could you keep it down, please?"_

"_This is so exciting!"_

"_You're ALWAYS excited."_

"_But how do we contact it?"_

"_She better not lay her hands on MY Garfield."_

"_How do we know it's a 'she'?" _

"_Who the heck is **Garfield**?" _

"_He's the jade colored guy, dummy."_

"_I'd say he's more of an emerald."_

"_No, jade."_

"_He's emerald."_

"_Jade."_

"_Emerald."_

"_**Jade!**"_

"_**EMERALD!**"_

"SHUT UP!" Raven cried aloud.

"But I haven't said anything yet." came a sheepish, confused voice.

Raven looked up into the mystified eyes of her green teammate, no longer sitting at the mouth of the cave.

"BeastBoy!" Raven exclaimed.

"The one and only." BeastBoy said softly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I uh…I'm not interrupting something, am I?"

Raven dreaded to think about how much of her conversation was held OUTSIDE of her mind. But she regained her composure quickly, sitting cross-legged inside the sleeping bag.

"It was nothing. Just a…one-sided argument." Raven said matter-of-factly.

"Are you sure? Because I can leave you alone…" BB reassured her.

"Your shirt is ripped." Raven said, cutting him off.

A long, somewhat thin piece of cloth was missing from BeastBoys right sleeve, from his shoulder to his wrist. His skin was amplified from the green olive light shining in the cave.

BB looked nervous again, but his smile left him, to be replaced by a serious jaw.

"I didn't want to damage your outfit." He said, gesturing to her head bandage. "You've got fewer clothes on than I."

Raven reached up, touched the bandage around her head, and ran her fingers through the stiff purple fibers.

She didn't know what to say.

"You should try to get some more rest." BeastBoy suggested, walking back to the cave-side entrance of the tunnel.

"Shouldn't we be moving? Towards the others?" Raven asked, looking towards the swirling snow beyond the cave mouth.

"Cyborg won't be all 'Good-Morning Sunshine' for a couple of hours yet. We should sit tight and wait out the storm until he can move on his own." BeastBoy said, sitting down.

Raven stood. She walked towards the cave-tunnel somewhat shakily, the sleeping bag rolled up into a ball in her arms.

She knelt before BeastBoy, and pushed it towards him, her knee's shivering on thefrosty floor. "Here."

BeastBoy looked at the sleeping bag. Then he looked at Raven, her eye's as blue as the ice that surrounded her.

He pushed back. "Keep it. Use it."

"You'll catch your death." Raven said monotonously, referring to the ice.

He gave her a half sincere grin. "I can become Mr. Shaggy whenever I want to. I'm set for the cold."

"It doesn't _belong_ to me." Raven argued back.

"You need it more than _I_ do." BeastBoy replied.

"It's yours."

"It's _yours_ now."

"But the cold…"

"Don't **_argue _**with me!" BeastBoy barked, grabbing her.

Raven gasped, and looked at BB in shock, her hands in his. She held her breath.

BeastBoy was breathing heavily. His grip was soft but firm and hot, and his gaze was a fierce pine green. He had never looked this determined, not at her. The soft green lights only amplified his countenance.

Raven had never seen him like this.

"Please…" he began.

Raven listened.

"Please…_use_ it. You're cold, and I have to close the cave entrance. Just please…do this for me." BeastBoy asked, his voice softer.

Raven slowly pulled her hands from his grip, and backed away slightly. Her face held a scowl as she sat in the center of the cave, her eyes remaining on her companion. She slipped inside the thick material, the warmth returning to her skin.

BeastBoy sat on his haunches, and slowly morphed back into a tiger. He remained at the inner hole of the tunnel, putting his body about ten feet from the hostile weather. But he again began to close the entrance, his large mass cutting off the storm. As is the habit of most large territorial animals, he walked in a tight circle once, and then plopped his five hundred pounds of muscle and striped fur upon the ice. He laid his large head upon his paws, and closed his jawbreaker sized sea-green eyes.

Raven relaxed her body on the slick, cold ice floor. She faced BeastBoy as she snuggled up upon herself, doubling her warmth.

She took one last look at the large green cat…

…and felt another kind of warmth altogether.

"Good night, BeastBoy." Raven whispered over the howling wind beyond.

"_Sleep WELL!" _the cornucopia of voices sang in her head.

"Oh, be _QUIET_." She ordered them.

And that is how Raven fell into a restless sleep. The sound of BeastBoy's heavy breathing in her ears, the steady wail of the arctic wind behind him, and the shining green light in her eyes.

Her last thought, just before sleep cradled her in its embrace, was a question she kept to herself, but kept asking well into her unconsciousness.

'_Why does my leotard smell like TOFU?' _


	9. Cliff

_I think this chapter could have been longer, but I didn't want it to become too wordy or superflous in content. It sets itself up for the chapter after next, and presents yet another challenge for the Titans. I will post again as soon as I am able, but for now, I hope this little nugget will be enough to quench your thirst. (It's far from perfect, but I hope it is satisfactory.) I promise, after the next three chapters, the actual conflict will start to take shape. Until then, Read, Review, and Enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: The Teen Titans belong to Warner Bros and DC comics. If you're like me, you hope that they will pick the series back up and give it a fitting send-off. Miracles can happen, right? _

**Chap. 9: Cliff**

"It is a LONG way up." Starfire said.

"Yea," Robin agreed. "A REALLY long way up."

The two Titans stood before the sheer cliffs of a glacier face. It stretched endlessly to their right and left, and slanted upwards at what seemed liketwenty degree angle. The ice felt glossy, and seemed to have no indentations in it whatsoever. As it slanted upwards, it disappeared into the cacophony of fallingsnow above.

"I become dizzy just trying to locate the top." Starfire said, her chin pointed to the sky.

"Regardless, it's in our way." Robin said, returning to the idling T.I.M. behind him. "And besides, this shouldn't take long."

Starfire returned to the snow mobile, and climbed back inside just as a light snow began to fall. Robin took his seat in front of her, closed the protective cocoon cover, and put the T.I.M. in drive.

"This might get a little hairy…err…uh…complicated." Robin said as he slowly pulled the machine up to the sleek cliff face. "Just hold on, alright?"

"Holding on!" Starfire reassured, hugging Robin close.

Robin pushed the skies of the T.I.M. up the side of the cliff with the powerful treads. They dug into the loose ice on the side of the glacier, and pushed the machine until it was literally sitting on the surface of the cliff face, pointing towards the snowing sky.

"Here goes nothing." Robin said. His pushed a button, and pulled a trigger on his control handle.

A loud POOOSH sound could be heard from the front of the snow mobile. Out of the corner of her eye, Starfire could see a blue flash of light and a long rope propel itself from the front of their transport, and twirl away into the night sky. After about thirty seconds, the rope became taut, and Star could feel the tension beneath her body.

/GRAPPLING WINCH SECURED/ said the monotone computer voice.

"Up, up, and away." Robin said softly.

The retracting spool began to reel the winch back in, pulling the T.I.M. as it went. Robin throttled up slightly, matching the speed of the spool. It pulled the small contraption up the side of the intimidating ice shelf, pieces of frost falling from the grinding treads as Robin drove.

"This is slower. But we should make it to the top with the fuel we have left." Robin said over the growing wind.

"And once we have reached the precipice?" Starfire asked.

"I'm…well…not sure. Keep moving. Figure out a plan." Robin said.

The only thing could see in the darkness of the capsule was the green and blue heads-up display before Robin's helmet. The angle at which the snow mobile was traveling gave Robin the impression of traveling through space at faster-than-light velocity…with the small exception that the 'stars' actually collided with the ship from time to time. Everything else, including the snowfall that was NOT before the halogen lights of the T.I.M., was lost to the thick arctic darkness, and the pounding wind.

Starfire did not need to see Robin's face. She could _feel _his uncertainty and worry.

It was not a vibe she enjoyed.

/THREE-HUNDRED FEET REMAINING/

"Robin?"

"Yes, Starfire?"

"How do you overcome…_it_?"

"It?" Robin asked.

"You run across buildings, and fall great distances at dangerous speeds when you chase criminals. Since you cannot fly, how do you overcome the dread of falling, without the certainty of your grappling hook catching you?" Starfire asked, her voice somewhat shaky at the thought.

Robin considered the question for a moment, gazing at the winch and falling snow outside his windshield. The thought had never occurred to him, though it seemed very poignant at the moment.

He turned his head to Star, his eyes hidden. "I trust my skills and my equipment. The fear of falling is really an afterthought."

"But what if your equipment fails you, how do you recover?" she asked.

To her surprise and delight, Robin placed a gloved hand upon her hands around his stomach, and gave her a gentle squeeze. "If it does, I can always rely on my friends to catch me. They have _never_ let me down."

"Oh." Star said, her face suddenly the same color as her hair.

/ONE-HUNDRED FIFTY FEET REMAINING/

"We have to be getting close," Robin said, the snow a swirling mess before the T.I.M. "This thing can't be _that_ tall."

The thrumming of the engine was a pleasant contrast to the daunting combination of wind, snow, and precarious height. But Robin was still perplexed as to why the slanted machine had not reached the top of the wall yet.

"We are at a significant height, yes?" Starfire asked.

"Much higher than I thought we would be." Robin said, checking his instrumentation. "Nearly one-thousand feet above sea level as is, and rising."

"Wind speed is at sixty of your miles per hour." Star informed, checking a gauge on the side of the capsule.

/FIFTY FEET REMAINING/

"I see it!" Robin said, startling Starfire. She peaked over Robin's caped shoulder.

Ahead, buried in the snow and gouged into the ice of the cliff, sat a large titanium hook. It had a vague 'T' shape to it, and it looked to be blue in color, making it difficult to determine where the hook ended and the snow began.

Problem was, the T.I.M. was still almost twenty feet from the cliff ledge. Robin could see the snow billow off of the top of the overhang, the snow acting like little tornadoes in his head lights.

/GRAPPLING HOOK RETRIEVED/

Robin stopped the engine, sat back slightly, and began tapping his index fingers in thought.

"I think if I floor it, and detach the hook at the right time, we should be able to climb the last couple of yards without any problem." Robin speculated to his green-eyed partner about ten minutes later.

"I could fly us the rest of the way to the top." Starfire offered. "I'm sure it would not be too difficult..."

"Thanks," Robin said, gazing back over his shoulder, "But we can make it this way. Plus, you need to save your energy. That cut on your cheek has me worried."

"Very well." Starfire said, somewhat disappointed.

"This is going to take some finesse…" Robin said, cracking his fingers and bracing his feet.

**TING!**

"What was _that_?" Starfire asked, gripping Robins shoulders.

**TINGTING!**

**SPA-_ROINING!_**

**SNAP!**

Little shards of ice smashed against the windshield. The T.I.M. began to shudder and sway.

"Oh dear…" Starfire said, afraid to breathe.

"The hook is shaking loose!" Robin gasped, turning the ignition.

_CHA-CHA-CHA-chink. CHA-CHA-CHA-chink. COUGH. _

**TING!**

/ WARNING! WARNING! ENGINE MALFUNCTION! FUEL FEED INTERUPTION/

"The fuel lines _froze_!" Robin yelled, thethrottle not responding.

**TING!**

**SCRRR-_APE_!**

"Bail out!" Robin said, using a Birdarang to shatter the left side of the capsule.

Starfire didn't argue.

"EEE-_YAH_!" she cried, splintering the Plexiglas with her fist, rolling out onto the wind-swept ice.

Robin tumbled out on the other side of the T.I.M., just as the final hook gave way.

He took two Birdarangs in his hands, and dug the sharp steel of each into the ice before him. He saw Starfire to his right, her super-strong fingers digging into the frozen wall, creating little handholds for herself.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye, as both heroes watched the four-hundred pound T.I.M. fall backwards off of the ice face, the halogen lights spinning off into the Arctic night, and into the nothingness below.

"Robin! Hang on!" Starfire yelled, the snow stinging her skin.

But before Star could even lift into the air, a flash of light twinkled from far below the perched teenagers. A BOOM fallowed soon after, the last of the fuel in the T.I.M. erupting upon impact with the ground some five hundred feet below.

Robin snapped back to attention, and began climbing. "Star, I'm fine! Get to the top! Hurry!"

Robin sliced into the ice wall with his razor-sharp weaponry, and pulled himself up with his lean acrobatic build. But he heard no response from Starfire.

"Starfire! Did you hear me? Where are you!" Robin yelled, snow collecting on his face.

"I am here, Robin!" came a shout from above.

Robin craned his snow covered face upwards, was able to make out a glowing green light above him. Star sat atop the cliff, illuminating the dreary cold night.

"Do you require assistance?" She called down.

"I'm fine! Just wait for-"

**CRACK!**

Robin's arms were suddenly further apart as he held himself upon the ice.

'_You've gotta be KIDDING me…' _he thought, his skin already numb from the unrelenting wind.

**CRACK! **_CRACKCRACKCRACKcrackcrackcrack_...

The sound was spreading behind him now, down the ice, and it was growing fainter as it went.

"Robin? What is that noise?" Starfire yelled, her voice echoing off of distant peaks, betraying her anxiety.

_**CRACK! SLICE!**_

"Starfire!" Robin yelled.

Her eyes held every bit of the sadness within him.

He held the vision of her face. Etched it into his mind.

"FLY!" he ordered her.

The ice shattered with a deafening roar beneath him.

Then Robin, and the vision of everything important to him, fell away.


	10. Prisoners

_One of the longer chapters I have written for this story. It's best to read itas opposed to having it explained, so I hope all of you will enjoy it. I apologize if Raven is slightly OOC, but I don't think it is too agregious. Please read and review, I really want feed-back about this chapter. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. Probably never will. _

**Chap. 10: Prisoners**

Raven was lost.

Every road looked the same, and the scorching sun made her very uncomfortable. The jungle around her had no distinguishing characteristics from any anything else she had already seen. The sun was oppressive and the air thick, but she could feel something else, deep in the bush. But she wasn't sure _what_ or _where_ it was.

Her only reference point was the child's voice. "Mommy, come play with me!"

She followed that voice, high and innocent, through the tall palm leaves and sticky vines, until she came upon a clearing in the dense foliage.

She couldn't believe her eyes. "Raven!"

A little boy, not more than seven or eight, was standing in the clearing, holding a soccer-ball, wearing shorts and a white T-shirt. Behind him, a man and a woman stood, watching the blonde little boy as he ran towards Raven.

They were his parents. _BeastBoy's_ parents.

"Wanna play with me?" the little pink BeastBoy asked.

Raven walked the short distance between her and the child. Raven was accustomed to being taller than BB, but only by a couple of inches. Now she stood a good two feet taller, her shadow blocking the sun from touching his slightly tanned skin. He was very different from what she was accustomed to.

But his voice was unmistakable. "Well? Do you wanna play or not?"

Raven knelt before the boy, her face full of disbelief. His hair was shiny and his smile was adorable, and whenever he bounced the ball, his eyes held a serious quality she recognized. He smelled like grass and earth, and his teeth were small and square, including his still developing canines.

She had a hard time believing that this was the same Titan she knew. "BeastBoy?"

"Who's BeastBoy?" the child asked, twirling the ball in his hands. "I'm Garfield."

Raven was stunned. "Then…how do you know _me_?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Garfield asked, smiling. "You're Raven! You're my special friend."

"_Special_ friend?"

"Momma says that anybody who is really important to me is a special friend. So, that's you!" Garfield said, bouncing the ball on the dusty ground.

Raven's head was spinning, and her heart thudded. "But…how…where _are_ we?"

"Africa!" BeastBoy said, his eyes as bright as the sun above him as he looked Raven up and down. "Isn't it great? I don't know how much fun it will be with all the dark clothing on, _but_… to each their own."

"I suppose," Raven answered, recognizing the sense of humor. "But…why are you…_we_…here?"

"This is the place where I used to have the most fun!" Garfield explained excitedly. "My parents used to take me here on research expeditions, and I could do and see _so _much out here. Monkeys and parrots are all over the place. I've nearly memorized the name and appearance of every animal."

Raven gazed at Garfield's smiling parents. They had not moved throughout this entire conversation, their smiles constant and their bodies unchanged.

In fact, they weren't moving at all. They were as statues.

"What is wrong with your folks? They aren't moving." Raven asked, looking past the boy.

Garfield's smile vanished, and he dropped the ball with an echoing bonk sound. "_No_…"

He turned and ran to where his parents stood, some fifteen feet away. He started tugging on their tropical clothing, his voice piercing and desperate, his eyes holding the panic of a child confronted by his worst fear.

"No! Mom! _Dad!_ Don't go yet! _Please!_ Just a _little_ longer…stay just a _little_ longer!" he begged to the smiling statues, his hands unable to move them.

Raven was confused and very alert now. The sky above her had suddenly become dark, and the trees and plants swayed in a cold, blustery wind. All the sounds of the jungle had ceased, and the small clearing was beginning to feel claustrophobic. Black clouds began to circle above, and the crackle of distant thunder shook the ground slightly.

What was worse, however, was how she felt almost pelted by the grief from the child in front of her. She could sense every wave of grief, for it washed over her the second after it washed over him.

"PLEASE!" Garfield cried, his eyes streaming with tears. "**Don't _go_!**"

Raven's chest felt tight. She watched in horror as Garfield's parents began to crumble in his grasp. Their bodies began to fall apart like fragile clay, only to be carried off in the stiff, cold wind. If was as if they were disintegrating, as their child clung frantically to their dissolving flesh.

"Great _Azar_…" Raven whispered, her eyes also brimming with water. The younger version of her teammate had fallen to his knees, the last of his parents' ashes clinging to his sweaty palms.

Then she heard it.

Above Garfield, falling with the sound of a crashing plane, came a colossal, black shadow. Raven looked up, shielding her eyes from the various flying debris, and watched as something tremendous fell to Earth.

The boy was right beneath it. "Garfield! _Look out!_"

Garfield looked back, his face ashen with grief.

Raven shot into the air as fast as she could, towards the child.

But it was too late.

_**BOOM!**_

The force of the impact sent Raven flying. She toppled, end over end in the air, the shockwave carrying her far. She landed, unceremoniously, in a heap, maybe one-hundred feet away.

Her hands and knees stung from the landing, but she picked herself up, and looked back to where she had been. She dreaded the idea of finding the little boy, smashed to smithereens, all over the ground before her.

But she found something else entirely.

The jungle was gone. No tree's, no bushes, no exotic flowers were left. The ground was now a barren desert, cracked and dry, with clouds of dust billowing across it. The sky was gray and bleak, with boiling clouds and low thunder. The air was stale and polluted, as if full of car exhaust.

But the landscape was far from devoid.

Raven walked towards a large, rectangular object in the distance. It was perhaps twenty five feet tall, about seventy five feet wide. It was made of very thick steel, and it had three large, hinged doors in it, lined up next to each other.

Each door had a window. And each window had bars.

Raven walked towards the place she had last seen Garfield. It was the door on the far right, its lock heavy and thick. The whole thing looked like it weighed over a thousand tons, maybe more.

Raven wondered what its purpose was in this barren place.

But then she heard a familiar sound. "Raven?"

Raven's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly levitated to the bars of small window, and peered inside. "Garfield!"

Garfield, the sweet little boy, sat upon the cold metal floor, his body in a pool of soft light.

He was in chains.

"What **_is_** this?" Raven demanded, trying to squeeze through the bars. "What has happened to you?"

Garfield opened his sad eyes, and looked up, his shackles clattering as he did. "This is my home."

"The _hell _it is!" Raven yelled. "I'm getting you out of there!"

"I wish I could leave," Garfield said solemnly, "But there _is_ no way out."

"Azarath, Metrion, _Zinthos!_" Raven chanted, trying to pry open the gigantic padlock of Garfield's cell with telekinetic blades. The dark energy slashed and stabbed at the dense metal, sending reverberations through the massive door.

The lock would not budge. It wouldn't even move.

Raven pulled her hood back, looking Garfield full in the face through the bars. "Who has done this to you? Why are you a prisoner here?"

Garfield stood slowly, his ankle-chains sliding across the floor. His face was placid again.

"I am here to guide." Garfield said softly. "To influence and teach."

"Teach? Who?" Raven demanded, her voice echoing off of the thick walls of the cell.

"Look in the next cell." Garfield said slowly, a sad smile upon his face.

Raven was too perplexed for words, but her body seemed to be on autopilot. She floated backwards, her cape fluttering in the dead wind, and looked cautiously at the door next to her.

It was the same make as the one containing Garfield, but its padlock was unlocked. The door was still heavy and intimidating, but it seemed to have a soft glow emanating from the small window. Raven hovered closer.

Upon looking through the window, Raven could see another light, shining from an unknown source, illuminating a spot on the floor. Within this spot sat a very large creature, pine in color, with darker emerald stripes.

It was a big cat. One she recognized.

"BeastBoy?" Raven wondered softly.

"The one and only." came Garfield's voice, wispy and soft, from someplace distant.

"Why is he caged too?" Raven asked, not taking her eyes off of the sleeping tiger.

"As you can see from his lock, he is not." Garfield informed quietly. "But this is where his mind rests when he is asleep, or unconscious."

"But…why in a cage?" Raven inquired tenderly, her gentle hands grasping the bars.

"BeastBoy's mind is perpetually caged," Garfield whispered; as if he were telling Raven a deep, dark secret. "But the cage opens when he is awake. That is how he is able to do things freely. But when he sleeps, or when he looses control of his thoughts or feelings, he comes here, to where his mind receives his influences, morals, sense of right and wrong…and temptations."

"Temptations?" Raven asked, floating back to where Garfield stood in his restraints.

"Yes. I represent everything BeastBoy was, and everything he holds onto; his innocence, his sense of humor, his courage and strength, his _heart._" Garfield explained. "And so I try to influence his day to day behavior. To keep him good, wary, and mindful."

"But you aren't the only one who influences BeastBoy, are you?" Raven deciphered, a sense of dread welling up from deep inside her.

_**SCREeee-CH!**_

The sound was long and loud, like the sound of scrap iron grinding against itself.

It was fallowed by a rumbling sound; a growl, deep as possible, and sinister in nature. It carried across the desert soil, to disappear a few moments later with the rolling thunder above.

Raven felt her skin crawl. "What was _that_?"

Garfield looked at her, his eyes compassionate, but at the same time full of a knowledgeable confidence. He looked at her as if Raven already knew the answer to her question.

"Of all the people in this world, Raven," Garfield said darkly, "_you_ should know what it means to have _demons_."

_**BANG! **_

If it were possible, Raven jerked with shock in mid air. The sound had been crisp and loud, like a sledge hammer striking hallow steel. It resonated throughout the entire cage, and caused the door to Garfield's cell to vibrate and shudder.

Raven summoned up her courage, and began floating towards the third door on the far left of the cage.

"Don't listen to anything he says!" Garfield warned, stopping Raven.

"Why? What _is _he?" Raven questioned.

"He is everything BeastBoy hates, and tries to conceal." Garfield said, his voice full of pity. "Thankfully, BeastBoy almost never listens to him; his lies, his insults, his demands to be set free."

"Why is he even _here_? Raven asked. "What is his purpose?"

Garfield sat once more, his shackles clanking on the hard floor. His look was almost ironic. But his tone was even.

"BeastBoy is a single entity with two primary influences." Garfield said. "I am the boy."

Garfield leaned forward, and cupped his hand over his mouth, as Raven listened.

"_He _is the _Beast._"

_**BANGBANG!**_

Raven turned slowly, her eyes wary of what was to come. Her hands were sweaty and her breathing was nervous.

But she bit her lip, and ventured on.

She could smell something different when she reached the last door. It was something acrid and unpleasant, like burning plastic. She wasn't sure what it was, or if she even _wanted_ to know.

She got her answer when a puff of yellowish fog came fluttering out of the window in the third cell. It hung in the air like car exhaust. Raven had to hold her nose.

It was the Beast's _breathe_!

"_RAE-ven…?_"came a strained, hushed voice.

Raven ventured closer, her eyes almost watering from the stench.

"_RAE-ven! It IS you!_" the voice continued, almost in admiration.

"Who _are _you?" Raven asked the voice.

"_Who am **I**? Raven…you WOUND me…certainly you haven't forgotten who **I** am._" The voice said, his voice more gurgled now.

"Have we met?" Raven asked, moving closer to the bars.

"_You could say that. Though I believe the last time we saw each other…well…I should say that I had the pleasure of your TASTE more so than your acquaintance._" The voice laughed, with the sound of grinding teeth behind it.

"How is that possible?" Raven asked, touching the cold steel.

_**BANG!**_

A face was suddenly at the bars, pushing Raven back several feet with the shock.

"_You were in my **teeth**_." The voice said, fallowed by a malicious grin.

Raven recognized the face. The long hair, the large shoulders, the pointy fangs…the _eyes…_everything about that face was familiar.

Because Raven had seen it before.

"I thought Cyborg got _rid_ of you." Raven said bitterly.

"_Gotten rid of? Oh no, no…not possible, I'm afraid._" The Beast said softly, victory in his tone. "_Pushed aside and detained, yes. But you cannot remove me from BeastBoy anymore than you can remove his soul; I am a **part** of him_."

Raven looked inside The Beast's cage. She nearly vomited.

Bones, bones, and more bones lined the bottom of his cage. The smell of decaying flesh was everywhere. The Beast had shackles around his arms and legs too, but these were of a dense, heavy variety. They kept The Beast chained to the ground, with a large collar aroundhis broad neck, and heavy hand-cuffs around his wrists.

"What are those bones?" Raven asked, the thunder now louder in the clouds above. "How did they get in your cage?"

"_I assume you met the annoying, altruistic little urchin in the other cell_?" The Beast asked.

Raven nodded.

"_There have been several versions of this child before HIM_." He said in an acidic voice, sitting with a THUD and a CRUNCH upon his dirty floor. "_You see, on the rare occasion that BB here lets me out to play, the first thing I have to do is silence the little snipe. I can't have him running around free as well, ruining my fun._"

**_BANG! _**went his large fist on the steal wall of his prison. His knuckles were raw from his punching, and the inside of his cage bore the scars of several attempted escapes. "_Kids. They can be such a wrench in the works_."

Raven didn't seem to be following. The Beast smiled at that.

"_Well, how do you think I get RID of him each time_?" The Beast quarried, licking his lips with a loud smack.

"You wouldn't…" Raven said, staring back at Garfield's cell. "You protected me from SLADE. Tried to _save _me!"

"_HE protected you_." The Beast clarified, pointing a black claw at BeastBoy's cage. "_HE has the annoying habit of doing that, regardless of who's pulling the strings. As for the blond-haired brat behind door number one…well…_"

The Beast winked. "_Finger-lickin' good._"

Raven's anger flared for a second, and she turned her now black eyes to the monster in his cage, her power surging between her fingers. "You _monstrous, maniacal, barbaric WRETCH…_"

"_Guilty, as charged._" The Beast said, bowing slightly with loud rapport from his shackles. "_But I don't want you to worry Raven. This is only a temporary inconvenience._"

Raven stopped in mid rant, her face curious. "What do you mean?"

"_I'm tired of only being free for tiny snapshots of time, only to have the green elf here conjure up another conscience to lock me up once more._" The Beast gestured in annoyance.

"_Sooner or later, I'm going to break out of this cerebral Sing-Sing…_"

_**BANG!**_

"_And set up permanent shop in ol' grass-stain here._" The Beast grinned.

Raven froze. Her realization was of The Beasts' plan began to take shape. "You couldn't…BeastBoy always puts you back."

"_This bird-cage can't hold me forever. And the little one never puts up much of a fight._" Beast said snidely, wrapping his huge, thick talons around the bars of his cell window. "_It's just a matter of time._"

Raven stood upon the desolate earth, not wanting to believe. "It's not possible."

"_It's more than a possibility. It's an inevitability._" The Beast mocked. "_You know something about destiny, right? THIS is **BeastBoy's**_."

"No." Raven said, holding her ears and closing her eyes. "I won't listen. It's not true."

"_BeastBoy will be mine. I will be HIM. And Garfield…?_" teased The Beast, laughter gurgling in his hairy chest. "_…will join his **parents**._"

"No."

"_Yes…_"

"No!"

"**_Yes!_**"

"**NO**!"

Raven sat straight up, her heart hammering in her chest, her hair plastered to forehead. Her breathe came out in big puffs of steam, and her hands gripped the sleeping bag tightly. Her eyes were wide in the dim green glow.

Raven leaned forwards, holding her head in her hands, as she recovered from her dream.

'…_a Dream?' _she thought to herself. _'That was way too real to be a dream.' _

It was then that Raven turned around, and looked at the fluffy green surrogate pillow behind her.

BeastBoy lay asleep; his tiger morph breathing steadily, his body still blocking the narrow passage to the outside world. His body was less visible than earlier, for the green glow sticks above them were slowly loosing their luminosity.

Raven could make out a funny-shaped indentation in the thick fur on his exposed belly.

A shape that looked like Raven's head.

'_I fell asleep, and moved towards him subconsciously?' _Raven asked herself.

The dream suddenly made sense. _'I was in physical contact with him the whole time. Maybe my mind started to read his as he slept. Like a subconscious palm reading.' _Raven thought.

Images started to return to her in flashes.

BeastBoy's parents…

His childhood…

His innocence…

The cage…

The _Beast_…

'_I can still hear him laughing in my head.' _Raven thought, holding her temples, cringing at the memory. _'His dreams are powerful enough to completely influence my own…INFECT my own…' _

She turned to looked at the tiger's mug beside her. As fierce as he looked at that moment, Raven had a new perspective on just how resilient BeastBoy had to be at times.

Garfield's message came back to her at that moment;

'Of all the people in this world, Raven, _you _should know what it means to have _demons._'

'_So sad…' _Raven thought, her heart aching as she looked at him.

Without even realizing what she was doing, Raven lay upon on the ice and gently, EVER so gently, rested her head upon BeastBoy's massive chest once again.

His fur was warm and coarse, like a giant shag carpet. Raven could barely comb her fingers through it. She could hear the beat of BB's big cat heart, like a pleasant, slow metronome in her ear. His chest would inflate to twice its original size as he took his deep breathes, and deflate slowly, fogging up the ice beneath his nose.

Raven watched all of this and took stock. She knew of BeastBoy the jokester, prankster, tofu-connoisseur, and shape-shifter.

It was only in her dreams that she learned of Garfield, the lost child, and The Beast, yearning to conquer his prison.

Raven had been, for years, considered an 'ice queen' of sorts; never feeling, never showing any emotion, never a part of her group of friends as their _friend_, only their comrade. It was only after the battle with her father several months prior, and after his defeat, that Raven could begin to piece together the life she always wanted. The life she never had.

She had felt alone, detached, different, and…_creepy_; like she would never belong anywhere. Like her demons would always keep her at arms length from everything she wanted.

She had no idea that BeastBoy had demons too, with their _own _agenda.

"_Just like us…" _Raven's emotions chorused softly in her mind.

Raven felt hot tears roll off of her cheek, and on to the thick fur of her sleeping teammate…and friend.

She didn't try to stop them.

"You've had no one to help you…all this time…" Raven whispered aloud, her mind alive with new information.

She blinked, wiped her eyes, and pushed her head into the bulky pelt of the tiger underneath her head, stroking it with her cheek.

"Not tonight." Raven said firmly. "I'LL watch you tonight. You just sleep…just try to rest…to find some peace."

Raven caressed the striped fur, her sadness heavy upon her, her uncertain frown never leaving her face. "Tell your parents I said 'Hi'."

Raven didn't try to sleep. She didn't want to.

The prospect of what she might dream about was not very settling to her already shaky frame of mind.

She just lay upon the green tiger, as he slept and guarded the cave, in the middle of a frozen nowhere.

He guarded the cave. And Raven guarded him.

And cried the tears that BeastBoy could never shed.


	11. Regret

_I'm proud of this chapter, and its length. Whilst I do want feed-back from all of my readers about this chapter, It is the one which I have worked hardest on so far. I hope you'll agree, but I will understand if some of you don't. Read, Review, and, as always, enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, not now, not never! _

**Chap. 11: Regret**

BeastBoy could smell lavender.

He could smell a lot of things with his keen tiger nose; the ice, the dieing chemicals of the glow sticks, polyester from the sleeping bag…

But he could also smell _lavender_. And THAT"S what he concentrated on.

BeastBoy's large eyes blinked open, his predatory vision adjusting to the darkness almost instantly. Any light in the whole cave was amplified twenty fold, so blinking was a good idea.

He turned his large head to one side, then the other, cracking his large vertebrae with loud 'pops' of grinding bone.

'_Sleep on a floor of ice, and ya pay for it in the morning.' _BB thought, yawning his toothy mouth. _'But where is that SMELL coming from?'_

**Scratch-scratch**...

BeastBoy felt something itch his fur, lying on his side. He turned his head quickly, wondering if he had fleas again. It was quite the opposite.

She had her fingers tightly wound in his thick, striped coat. Her face was pointed towards his, her eyes shut, her cheek pressed against him. Her arm lay upon his muscular chest, curved, as if she were hugging it, and her mouth was the usual line, uncurled, neither smiling nor frowning.

As big as his stomach was at the moment, to BeastBoy, it felt full of butterflies. Or maybe something larger, like doves.

'_Am I dreaming this?' _BB asked himself, his glowing eyes wide. _'Or did I hit my head harder than I thought yesterday?'_

Raven moved slightly, clinging tightly to BeastBoy, his muscles tightening at the tug on his fur. Her mouth moved, crystal clear to the cat beneath her, but her eyes stayed shut.

"Gar…"

'_WHAT did she say?' _BeastBoy thought, muscles tensed.

"Garfield…" Raven said in her sleep. "Stay…don't…don't be scared."

'_Now I'm HEARING things.' _BB thought, his claws subconsciously digging into the ice beneath his paws. _'Raven doesn't talk like this…does she?'_

"I'm…I'm _here._" Raven whispered in her dreams, before falling silent again.

Upon closer inspection, BeastBoy could see something on Raven's face. They were dark, but sparkly. Like trails of silver.

'_She's CRYING…' _BeastBoy observed, distressed.

'_Raven NEVER cries…Not about ANYTHING…anyONE…' _BeastBoy thought, watching the tears roll down Raven's face, the trails behind them freezing on her delicate cheeks.

BeastBoy brought his television sized head right in front of Raven's face. He looked carefully at her, his senses sharp, and listened to her breathing.

Without even fully understanding _why _he did it, BeastBoy pushed his head underneath Raven's cheek, and nuzzled her. The fur atop his nose was rough and short, and his whiskers were stiff, but BeastBoy was gentle and tender, his touch soft, and his movements slow. He used his face to wipe away the trails of tears upon the young girls face, warming her cold skin.

He was even more surprised when Raven reached out with her arm, in her _sleep_, and tightly wrapped it around BeastBoy's head!

BeastBoy froze, his furry face still nestled next to Raven's. He wasn't sure what she was doing, or if she even _knew_ she was doing it.

What he was sure of was how uncomfortable his neck was becoming in this position. _'Perfect. If she doesn't let go, I'm gonna wake up from this dream seeing everything sideways because of this massive crick in my neck.' _

But she spoke again. "I'm…_here_…with _you_."

BeastBoy felt as if he would roar with heartache, but kept his mouth shut, and put his forehead against Raven's. He let her hold him, fresh tears upon her face, falling upon BeastBoy's scruffy green pelt.

'_I'm here with you too, Raven.' _BeastBoy told her in his mind. _'I'm right here with you. But don't waist your tears on me. No one cries over me. Especially not you.'_

Raven only held him in her sleep.

'_Besides,' _BeastBoy went on, _'Your tears are going to make **me** cry. Tigers…Tigers don't **cry**.'_

Only her breathe…

'…_unless the person they care for most is in pain, and the Tiger can't help them. Then…then a Tiger could cry.' _He thought softly.

…and more tears.

'…_a Tigers **heart **might break...' _BeastBoy whispered to himself.

Even though Raven was the one clutching to _him_ at the moment, BeastBoy held on to that moment, and to her, for as long as he could. He etched that feeling, that sense of closeness and connection, that mutual need for comfort…the exchange of affection…into his mind; carved it upon the gray matter of his brain, never to be removed.

But it was not to last. BeastBoy knew that. He knew he couldn't share this with her.

Not as he was. Not for what he did…and almost _didn't _do.

As gently as he could, BeastBoy dislodged Raven's arm from his neck. He then pushed his nose under her sleeping body, beneath the shoulder, and lifted her up and off of him.

Quickly moving his body out from underneath her, BeastBoy laid Raven upon the ice once more, tucking her head back into the sleeping bag. He pushed her back to the middle of the cave with his big nose, and pulled the bag back over her chin with his teeth.

From what he could hear with his sensitive ears, the wind and snow had long since stopped falling. The storm had passed on, for the moment at least. It was nearly silent outside, save for a few gusts here and there. He could smell the cold night, crisp and clean.

'_I could use some air.'_ BeastBoy decided.

He padded his large body down the corridor of ice, his tail swishing from side to side, his claws clicking on the slick floor. His mind was a-twitter with various thoughts, all of which concerning their situation, and what to do about it.

More importantly, he thought about how he was going to tell Raven the truth.

'_For all your animal instincts, you're LOST when it comes to honesty.' _BB told himself.

He looked back down the tunnel, and took one last glance at the sleeping woman behind him.

He sighed a big Tiger sigh, and stepped out into the Arctic night.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Raven awoke with a start, her eyes wide and her cheeks flushed. She hadn't dreamt anything, at least not that she could remember, but something in her subconscious commanded her to awaken. So she did.

She sat straight up in her sleeping bag, the sudden vertigo making her dizzy. She held her head over her bandage, and tried to levitate into a meditative position.

Only she couldn't.

Confused, she tried again.

Nothing.

Raven was becoming alarmed, and her hands were becoming sweaty with her worry, despite the cold.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" she chanted quietly.

Not even a psychic tremor.

'_What is going **ON**?' _Raven thought with apprehension, holding her forehead.

Her bandage, stiff with the cold and dried blood, tickled her fingertips.

It clicked then. _'Is it even possible? Could my injury have been that bad?' _

Raven tried again. "Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"

No power. No levitation. Not a thing.

'_This isn't good.' _Raven thought, laying her head on her hand.

The smell of fur and tofu entered her nose from her hand, making her grimace with the odor. It was then that she noticed that something was missing.

Or rather, someone. "BeastBoy?"

He was not in the cave. He wasn't at the entrance to it either. He was gone.

She stood, her legs stiff from the cold, and carefully walked towards the low tunnel at the other end of the cave. She bent over, and half walked, half crawled down the cave, until she reached the slightly smaller entrance to the cave some ten feet away. She stepped out, and into the still, cold air.

She didn't have to look long for BeastBoy.

About forty feet away, his feet dangling over the edge of small cliff, sat a little green man in a purple-black uniform. He was gazing up at the half-moon in the sky, his body, like the surrounding ice, covered in an eerie pale glow. Before him, dotted with ice flows and ice-burgs, was the ocean, broad and flat, and as black as pitch.

Raven walked the short distance to him, her feet as silent as possible. She didn't want to make too much noise, so as not to disturb the beautiful scenery with crunching feet. She approached BB with reserved apprehension, both for her sudden inability to command her powers, and for what might have caused BeastBoy to leave the cave in the first place.

"You're awake." BeastBoy said when she was right behind him.

"Yes." Raven said, surprised at his voice in the still night. "So are you."

"Couldn't sleep. Bad dreams." BeastBoy said, bringing his knees up to his chest.

"You can say that again." Raven agreed, slipping her cape under her fanny as she sat next to BeastBoy on the cliff.

"Huh?" BB asked, confused.

"Never mind." Raven said, looking up. "Pretty night."

"Yea. Cold though. You sure you're not cold like that?" BeastBoy inquired, referring to Raven's outfit.

"I'll be fine. But for some reason, my powers aren't working." She admitted worriedly. "I think it might have something to do with my head injury."

BeastBoy flinched slightly. "From the crash I bet. We're all lucky we weren't over water when that happened."

"I've been meaning to ask you." Raven said, remembering herself. "Where did all of that stuff in the cave come from? How did you get it here?"

BeastBoy shrugged, not looking at Raven. "Once I put you two in the cave, I went back to find your section of the ship, and to retrieve your winter survival stuff. But it had been blown away or fallen into the ocean. So, I went back to my ship section, busted it open again, and found my emergency kit. But my first aid box was gone. I had an I.O.U. slip in its place, probably from some other mission. The inside was kinda coacoa-bananza from the landing. But my sleeping bag and glow sticks were still there."

"How did you find that cave?" Raven asked, gesturing with her thumb.

"Luck. That and I was running out of glacier. It was that, or wait in the cold while I dug one out." BeastBoy admitted. "And my digging skills stink something fierce."

Raven watched him, and noticed that he would stare out at the ocean rather than look at her when he talked. His gaze was hard but his voice soft, and Raven could feel something oppressive about him. It was like something ugly was sitting in the pit of his stomach; a lump of regret, and something sickly and brown, like guilt. Her powers were on the fritz, but her ability to detect a person's emotional instability was still razor sharp.

And, for some reason, his ears were twitching and swiveling, both independent of each other as they moved.

He was listening to something.

"What is it?" Raven asked.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you _hear_?"

BeastBoy turned to her finally, his face aglow in the moon. He smiled slightly, almost reluctantly; like something was keeping him from being cheerful.

"Just listenin' to some music." BeastBoy said nonchalantly.

Raven quirked an eyebrow at that. "Music?"

"Yup."

"You're listening to **music.**" Raven tried to confirm.

"Uh-huh."

Raven felt silly for asking. She could hear nothing of course, but BeastBoy's response prompted her to continue.

"Where is it coming from?" she asked.

"Beneath us." BeastBoy said, his eyes closing and his ears twitching like green radar antennae. She was reminded of how he looked on the island two days ago.

"Really…what does it sound like?" Raven pushed, bringing her head closer to BeastBoy's in an attempt to hear better.

"It's low and slow. It doesn't sound sad; just deep and majestic-like. Kinda like that jell-o instrument you like." BeastBoy whispered, his face relaxed as he listened.

"It's called a _cello._" Raven corrected, her eyes shifting back and forth, looking up and down the ice cliffs and burgs. "But I still don't hear it. Or see where it's coming from."

"That's OK. You're gonna like the end part." BeastBoy reassured her.

"I'm sure." Raven said skeptically. But then BeastBoy grabbed her shoulder abruptly.

"Over there!" BB said excitedly, pointing with his other hand to an open patch of ocean behind a large ice-burg. "It'll be there. Right over there."

"What? What will?" Raven asked, eyes searching.

"Wait for it." BeastBoy said, his face intent.

Raven looked, her skin chilly and her vision strained. BeastBoy's eagerness was tangible beside her, and she was looking precisely where he was pointing, holding her breathe.

Nothing happened.

"BeastBoy," She started, "I'm not sure what you heard, but I don't-"

**PA-_LOOOOOSH_!**

Raven was interrupted by the sound and sight of erupting water, shattering the silence around them. Two massive shapes, each the size of small houses, burst through the glassy surface of the vast ocean. The millions of water drops caught the moons light as they were propelled into the freezing air.

The two creatures, gray, blue, and white in color, hung in mid air for a few seconds, water dripping from their long flippers and bumpy flesh. Loud moans and bellows could be heard from their great heads, and froth gathered beneath their bodies on the dark, salty sea.

"Oh, my _goodness_..." Raven said, transfixed by the sight.

The great beasts fell back into the ocean, their bodies smashing the crystal-like surface of the water. Waves billowed out from beneath them, and their large tails, maybe fifteen feet wide, flared into the air, only to disappear beneath the water a second later; an impressive crescendo.

"Humpback Whales." BeastBoy explained, watching the huge creatures disappear into the ever darker ocean. "They're singing and playing. A late night romp through the ice field."

"It was stunning." Raven marveled, her injury forgotten for the moment. "And you could hear them, the whole time?"

"Hard to miss. I mean, you wouldn't think it, but this place is _loud_ with life. It's just…you know…hard to see." BeastBoy said, taking his hand from Raven's shoulder.

"I could hear it. But just at the end." Raven said, turning toward the bright sky. "It was beautiful."

"Yea. Beautiful." BeastBoy said under his breath, looking at her.

Raven caught his tone. "You don't sound convinced of that. As a matter of fact, I don't think I've seen you this moody and depressed…_ever_. It's like your personality has taken a vacation from you. You're quiet, edgy, and you seem distracted by-"

"I **_hesitated._**" BeastBoy interrupted harshly.

Raven wasn't expecting that, and it showed on her face. "You…you _what_?"

BeastBoy faced her, his eyes sharp and burning, his voice full of a deep anger. "You were on the edge of a cliff. Your ship was about to take a nose dive, not ten feet below me. I went down at first, tried to pry you out of that thing, but I only messed it up more! You were falling…and I bailed! I flew up the cliff to my own safety!"

Raven could feel his anger now. It was radiating off of him. But he continued, standing up and walking around, looking at his hands in the moonlight, the beginnings of a rant in his voice.

"Everything went all slow motion. I saw the ship fall, the ocean, the wind…I saw you, moving away from me…you weren't moving. I didn't know _why _you weren't moving…" BeastBoy practically yelled at himself, angry tears on his face. "And all I did was **_watch!_**"

Raven stood, her face worried and deeply confused. But she did her best to listen.

"Then I heard that _voice_!" BeastBoy hissed, his face full of self mocking laughter. "A weird, commanding voice that told me to catch you! It told me what to do, and I did it! I was just standing there, like it was no big deal, watching you _fall_, and then 'PING!' a voice pops into my head, telling me that I _needed_ to **save** you!"

He turned to her then, his face stricken with malice and pouring tears. "It _told_ me to catch you! To _save _you! Because I was too _scared_ and **dumb** to do it on my own! I couldn't save my teammate, my _friend, _noton my own, oh NO! The Mighty BeastBoy couldn't figure that one out by himself. He had to be _told_! He needed coaching from some psychotic _voice._ An out-of-nowhere voice with some creepy suggestion on what to do when a friend needs your help, when you're too chicken to do it **_yourself_**!"

He turned, facing the sea, unable to look at Raven's shocked expression any longer. But neither his anger nor his voice wavered.

"A _voice_. A stupid, lousy, **_VOICE!_**" he bellowed.

His last word was carried out on a monstrous roar that echoed off of the surrounding ice cliffs and drifting burgs, for at that moment, BeastBoy had begun to transform.

BeastBoy practically exploded into the shape of a seven foot tall, four-hundred pound, African Mountain Gorilla, his shadow dwarfing the stunned Raven behind him. She watched as he raised his boulder-sized fists into the air, held them together above his head, and hurtled his voice to the moon before him.

_**RRRRROOOOAAARR!**_

Holding his closed fists together as one large hammer, BeastBoy brought them down in front of him, striking the ice with a sound like that of a freight-train colliding with an ocean-liner.

**WHAM!**

A fissure, as wide as Raven was, formed in the ice beneath BeastBoy's wrecking ball fists. It rushed across the ice to his left and right, forming a semi-circle around an area of the glacier surface that could have covered a small beach, all the way to the cliff edge.

With a sickening crack, fallowed by a prickly, shattering sound, a slab of ice, weighing a good fifty tons, fell away from the cliff face. Ice was popping and snapping everywhere, with such force that Raven could feel the shards fly past her head like shrapnel. She stood in wonder and awe at what BeastBoy had just done, just with the power of his rage. Fury and sorrow were practically _gushing_ out of him.

Slowly but surely, his breathing heavy and his shoulders heaving, BeastBoy reassumed his human form, his body deflating and shrinking with the release of his outburst. Some seconds later, Raven could see and hear the plume of water rise before BeastBoy's body, the cold air pushing his hair straight up and making his uniform ruffle. The shelf of ice had collided with the water below almost as hard as BeastBoy had struck it.

_Almost_. "BeastBoy...please…calm down. This isn't like you at all…!"

Raven was _beseeching _the gasping BeastBoy before her. Whether or not he could even HEAR her anymore was impossible to say.

He turned, his hair a mess, his eyes wide with the unbelievable self-torment and grief. The cold night air was probably fifteen below zero, but BeastBoy wouldn't have noticed. Steam was actually radiating from his body, his rage having given way to tremendous heat within his flesh. It appeared as though a corona of energy hung about his small green frame; his fury was escaping his body with the white miasma, to disappear in the starry sky.

Raven couldn't remember the last time he had looked so completely defeated. But what he said next blew her away. "I'm _sorry_."

"Wha…what?" Raven asked, her eyes wide.

BeastBoy approached her, his face the epitome of regret, his voice a whisper. "I almost let you fall. I…I almost let you _drown._ I snapped you back. But I came so close to missing. You were almost **gone**. Another second, another _hesitation, _and you…you would have been…"

"SSSShhhhh…" Raven said, quickly coming closer over the ice, right in front of her seemingly broken friend. "No more, _please_…no more…"

BeastBoy could barely finish his sentence. His mouth would move, and his hands shook. But nothing came out, and his eyes stayed shut.

"I'm… I'm _sorry _Raven…I'm so _**sorry**._" BeastBoy managed to gasp, pulling Raven into an unexpected hug.

Raven couldn't move. The air in her lungs fell still, and her heart thudded loudly in her chest. Her arms hung in the air, unable to move. Her eyes were as large as hub-caps, and her face held just as much shock as BeastBoy's held regret.

Raven could remember her words, her thoughts, and her promises. They rang in her head like church bells;

'Not tonight. I'LL watch you tonight.'

Raven could barely register her own movements. As if acting of their own accord, her arms gently wrapped around BeastBoys shoulders, her face relaxed but sad. The movement felt very familiar, and BeastBoys body held the same warmth as he had the last time she had embraced him. It was amplified by his sudden outburst, and she could feel his racing pulse and staggered breathing.

But he was still BeastBoy. And she had a promise to keep.

She let her legs give way beneath her, as she and BB slid to the ice on their knees. His grip was firm but not abrasive, and his sobbing had all but subsided. His face was buried in her neck, and his breath was caught by the moonlight above them.

Raven cradled BeastBoy in her arms. Her insecure personal manifestations of timidity and anxiety were pushed aside for now. For HIM. She had not held anyone like this in her life. _Ever_. And although she was in a barren, hostile environment, the total opposite of anything civilized, something was created there on that ice cliff. Something that made the cold bearable and the night less foreboding. And it was found in the most unlikely place.

In the arms of her companion. Her BeastBoy.

"I _can't_ make something like this up to you…I shouldn't even _ask_…" BeastBoy whispered into Ravens shoulder.

"Please, just be calm now. No more of this." Raven replied, stroking his gnarly hair. "Stop attacking yourself."

But BeastBoy wasn't finished yet. "But how…how can you _forgive_ me…take what I've said and just _accept_ me for what I almost let happen…?"

Raven listened without really considering BeastBoys question. Her eyes were closed and her voice steady and sweet, as if she were still trying to calm the anger she could still feel boiling within her friend. "It doesn't matter now…I'm safe and sound…and _you_ made sure of that."

"But there has to be something..._anything_…to show you how sorry I am." BeastBoy insisted, pulling back slightly, looking at Raven with his still soggy eyes. "Name it…whatever it is, just ask…_Please._"

Raven beheld BeastBoy, his face slightly silhouetted by the moonlight. His tear stained cheeks and eye-lids looked almost ghostly, and his grip was something to be reckoned with. His mouth was a sad, down-turned line, and his ears drooped almost comically on the sides of his head. Though he spoke not a word, his eyes were on their proverbial knees, _imploring_ her to respond.

For the life of her, Raven could not think of a single thing to ask of him.

Until both Curiosity and Memory gave her a sharp kick in the brain. _"ASK him!"_

Raven responded with equal exuberance, but with more confusion. _'Ask him WHAT?' _

"_You **know** what…the question you've had **us** playing with for the last couple of days?" _Curiosity and Memory said in unison.

Ravens sudden realization came with a side of fear. _'You mean…NO! I…I **can't**!' _

"_You can, and you will." _Her gray and silver emotions smiled, seizing control of her vocal cords before Raven could protest.

"Did you mean it?" Raven asked with her real mouth.

BeastBoys look of pain was replaced with a look of bewilderment at her words. "Huh?"

'_I'll get you BOTH for this! Just you **wait**, you pesky doppelgangers!' _Raven cursed in her head. "What you said…_earlier_…did you mean it?"

"Did I mean what?" BeastBoy asked, further adding to Ravens growing dread. She didn't want to have to explain this in detail.

"Back in Jump City…during the wave…?" Raven attempted.

Although she was pleased to see the look of torture removed from BeastBoys face, his look of total confusion was not much better at this point. "You lost me."

'_Great. Plain English.'_ Raven thought, swallowing hard.

"I heard you BeastBoy." She began softly. "I heard what you said."

Apprehension was building beneath BeastBoys persona. "What do you mean?"

"Right after the wave fell…and you were lying on the ocean floor." Raven explained, her hands on his elbows. "You said something to me. Do you remember what it was?"

BeastBoy could see her eyes begin to lower to the ice. They did so very slowly. And his memory came flooding back at about the same speed.

"You protected me." BeastBoy said softly, his sadness substituted with shy curiosity. "I could never forget that, or anything else from that moment."

Raven turned back up to him, and her once corrosive stare became as soft as the moonlight. "Then you know what I'm asking."

"Yes. But ask me anyway." BeastBoy said. "Ask what you really want to know."

Raven did something she almost never did; she looked into BeastBoys eyes, held his elbows in her small hands…

…and let herself go. "Do you really think I'm beautiful, BeastBoy?"

BeastBoy could actually feel his heart swell in his chest, pushing into his ribs and filling him with a nervous but warm feeling of recognition. Recognition he had discovered, but never entertained.

He finally smiled. "Raven…of all the people I've ever met, I have never…_never_ been so absolutely…

_**CLANG! **_

The sharp, piercing metallic noise rang throughout the night air, followed by a procession of curses and loud protests.

"OW! What the…_OW_! Oh, my _head_…who in the world…_**BEASTBOY!** _You skinny, tofu munching, DNA swapping _midget!_ Who told you to put me under a block of solid ice? When I find you, I'm gonna squeeze the green right out of you!" came a thunderous yell from the cave.

Both titans were spooked out of their revere. They both looked back towards the cave, and listened as the sound began to dissipate over the frozen terrain.

Cyborg was awake. And Raven and BeastBoy were suddenly overcome with a feeling of being caught in the middle of something they shouldn't have been doing.

BeastBoy spoke. "I guess…we should see how he is huh?"

"Yes." Raven said, her hands slowly falling from BeastBoy arms. "And find Robin and Starfire."

BeastBoy could hardly let what had almost happened just hang in the air like that. "Raven…I wanted to…I mean…I _should_ have been…"

Raven put a finger to BeastBoys lips, her own face stolid again. "Never mind that for now."

BeastBoy looked somewhat sad again. "Yea. Sure."

But Raven finished. "Hold that thought. For me."

Her friend brightened slightly, and stood as she did. "Alright. I will."

Both titans walked back to the small cave in the ice cliff, a few feet apart, in silence. The only thing that could be heard was the constant yelling from their bionic friend within their makeshift shelter.

'_I can wait. BeastBoy has to be patient and strong. He has to keep that monster in his head under lock and key.' _She thought to herself.

'_But I can wait. Wait until BeastBoy can find what he's looking for.' _She promised, gazing softly at her friend. _'And I'll be there waiting for him when he does.' _

In truth, Raven did want her question answered; very much, in fact. But for now she could be patient and wait, until the time was right again.

As it was, when she had asked BB her question, she had already received half of her answer. The look upon his face told her a great deal.

She could still picture it as she slowly walked across the glacier. It was sharp and clear in her memory, and would remain so until she saw it again.

His face had ceased to be BeastBoys for a moment. It had softened, morphed, and reshaped itself.

In his sad and hopeful gaze, Raven had seen BeastBoy.

But in a flash, BeastBoy had become Garfield once again.


	12. Revealed

_This will be the last chapter that I will be able to submit for several days hence. I am still working on the last couple of chapters, the ones which will comprise the end of the story, and until I have at least two more complete, I won't be making any more postings. Writing myself into a corner and then not having anything to submit isserious issue, one that I would prefer to avoid at all costs. But this chapter does answer some questions, even if some of the answers were kinda obvious. I hope the characters were true in nature and in action, and that my efforts to create suspense were successful. Until the next chapter, I hope that all my loyal readers will submit their opinions, as always, enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: Teen Titans Rock! They would rock even more if they belonged to me. But they don't. Drat. _

**Chap. 12: Revealed**

His hands were cut and his muscles were battered. His vision was blurry and his bones felt rattled. Not to mention the fact that his arm was bleeding, badly.

'_This REALLY is not my day.' _He thought in between huffing breaths.

But Robin just kept on digging.

"Starfire, _where are you?_" he yelled.

The huge pile of shattered ice and snow before him loomed up like a jagged hill. It was dark, and the night-vision display on his helmet gave him very little assistance. Even though it was no longer snowing, it was only due to the fact that both he and Starfire had fallen into a massive fiord beneath the ice, and had had the ceiling seal them within.

He now stood inside a very dark, very cold chamber, fighting his way through layer after layer of packed snow. His hands flew in the darkness, digging for all they were worth.

Robin had managed to pull himself from the cascade relatively unharmed.

So far as he could tell, Starfire had not. "Give me a sign, Star! _Please_!"

He could hear only two things; the sound of ice as he flung it behind him, and his own hammering heart. _'Show me your hand, a star-bolt, an EYE-BALL, _**_ANY_THING**_!' _

The thick Kevlar on his gloves allowed him to punch and rip away the ice before him without risking injury, but the blood on his arm had already stained the snow beside him.

He needed to find her before he passed out. "Starfire! I'm digging to you, just hold on, and stay awake! _Stay AWAKE!_"

**BONK. **

The tips of his fingers tapped something hollow. It was round and hard, but not cold. He ripped it from the snow.

'_Her helmet!'_ His mind panicked, but he kept digging.

Robin attacked the snow with new-found vigor, pushing whole boulders aside and burrowing like a mole.

_**SCRAPE!**_

"I'm not giving up, Star! You hear me? I'm not stopping till I find you!" he yelled, his voice echoing off of the surrounding walls.

"Star, I know you're here! I can _feel_ it!" he continued. "You were right! It was stupid of me to tell you _not_ to use your powers! I was wrong, OK? But please, be _alright_!"

_**SCRAPESCRAPE! SCRAPE!**_

He ignored the tears cutting freezing trails down the side of his face. "_Be alright so I can tell you that I was wrong!_"

_**RUSTLESCRAPE! SLASH! **_

Robin was breaking down. His warriors' instinct and training had traded themselves in for desperation and hope.

He only hoped it wasn't too little, too late. "Please! You _have_ to be alright! I have to see you smile…please, god, just let me see you smile _once_ more!"

_**CRUNCH! SCRAPE!**_

"I need to _tell _you something…please be OK so I can tell you!…_please_..."

It wouldn't have mattered if the sun itself was in the cave with him. His eyes were full of the first tears he had cried since the death of his parents.

"Come back, Star…" He said, barely a whisper. "_Please!_ Come _**back**_…"

His hands had stopped digging. His body had stopped moving.

But his tears flowed freely. "_Don't go…"_

Sparks flew behind his tightly shut eyes. As if his all-consuming grief were causing light to appear inside the cave. It sparkled and shimmered, bright and…_green_...

'_Green light…?' _he wondered briefly.

"What do you need to tell me, Robin?" said a soft voice.

Three things happened all at once, in a blur; Robin ripping his helmet from his head…

Spinning around to face the green light…

…and leaping into the air towards it. "**_STARFIRE!"_**

Although unprepared for Robin's assault, Starfire did not move from her hovering position behind him. Instead, she smiled brightly, and caught her leader as he flew towards her.

They tumbled out of the air, into the snow, rolling down in each others arms. The heap they landed in was an unceremonious one. But neither seemed to notice.

"You're ALRIGHT!" Robin cheered, squeezing her shoulders as she lay beneath him. "Woo-_**HOO!**_ Holy _cow,_you're really **_alright!_**"

"Yes, I seem to be." Starfire said to the dimly lit face above her. "Am I not supposed to-?"

"I _Love_ You!" Robin blurted.

That shut Starfire up quick. "You…you _what_?"

"With all my heart!" Robin continued, sounding uncharacteristically like _Starfire_ did when she was excited. "I couldn't find you but I found your helmet and I thought you had _suffocated_ in all the snow when we fell and when I thought I was never going to _see_ you again I felt like someone had shot me in the _chest _so I kept digging and digging and digging and tried to find you but I _couldn't_…"

"You _love _me?" Starfire asked as she sat up, still lightheaded from the statement.

Robin realized how fast he was going, sitting back on his haunches. "Yes…_yes,_ Starfire! That's what I wanted to tell you! _I Love you!_ More than I ever thought possible!"

**POW!**

'_She hit me AGAIN!' _Robins mind screamed.

His chest felt like something large and blunt had struck it. Coupled with his other injuries, Robin now knew how the training bag back at the tower felt. He nearly doubled over from the pain, his eyes bugging out of his mask upon being hit.

"What on EARTH was _that _for" Robin yelled, once his voice returned.

"This is COMPLETELY unfair!" Starfire yelled back, sitting up in the snow next to her stunned companion, her face cross.

"_**Unfair?**_ I told you I _loved_ you! And I MEANT it! How is that _unfair_?" Robin asked, thunderstruck by her statement.

"Because I was supposed to tell you _first_!" she yelled backin frustration, her face frowning and her green eyes pouty.

The cavern echoed their combined voices for a moment, but then fell as silent as the two Titans had become. It was as if both had been struck mute, and now sat in their own mystification at one another, several hundred feet below the surface of the Antarctic continent.

It was Robin that broke the silence. The fact that he broke it with raucous laughter made the entire scene all the more surreal.

Starfire was taken aback by Robin's atypical behavior. "But…_Robin_! Why do you _laugh_?"

Between snorts of glee and belly laughs, Robin was able to choke an explanation out. "_Here we are_…(Giggle)…_beneath the most god-forsaken land on the planet_…(Chuckle)…_fighting to just **survive** the elements_…(Pant)…_and you think it wasUNFAIR of me to tell you that I loved you **first**!_"

Starfire was beyond flabbergasted. "Well…I mean, I was _planning_ to…"

"This kinda thing could _only_ happen to people like us." Robin said, wiping the tears of laughter from his face. "And after a landslide of _ice,_ of all things!"

Starfire did not completely understand his humor, but the beginnings of laughter were bubbling up inside her. Before long, she too was snickering uncontrollably, and had fallen beside Robin on the snow in her glee.

"It is… (Snicker)…it _is_ rather humorous, _isn't_ it?" Starfire asked, her sides beginning to hurt.

"And to think… (Chortle)…we _complained_ about the heat wave!" Robin thought aloud.

"I did not complain. I was actually _enjoying_ the excessive sunlight." Starfire said as she tried to contain her laughter.

"Oh, what I wouldn't _give_ to be back in that scorching sun!" Robin exclaimed.

"Or to bath leisurely in the bay beside our home." Starfire added.

"Or sip lemonade while getting a tan." Robin dreamed.

"While munching on Gatzborg Cremtors!" Starfire smiled, clasping her hands.

"On WHAT?" Robin asked.

Starfire looked confused for a moment, but answered him. "Gatzborg Cremtors. Have you not heard of those treats?"

Robin could only shake his head. "Noooo…?"

"Gatzborg Cremtors! You know what _they_ are, surely…" Starfire said reassuringly, trying to jog Robin's uninformed memory. "They transgork in your flangrak, not in your zapnalls?"

Robin could only stare. It was as if an octopus was trying to give him guitar lessons. He was that confused.

"Never mind." Starfire said, her blush dark. "But I am curious; to where have we fallen?"

Robin and Starfire looked around their dark surroundings. Before them sat a mighty mound of snow and ice, but above them, the ceiling seemed…off. It was curved and smooth, or at least as smooth as they could perceive from their vantage point. The darkness was still thick, but their eyes had adjusted by now, and the complexity of this cavern was beginning to dawn on them.

Starfire walked to the wall nearest her, and ran her hand along the upward-curving, slick ice. "Such a peculiar shape. Are caverns formed this way NATURALLY on your planet?"

Robin shook his spiky head. "I don't think so. This looks far too symmetrical for a natural cave. It looks like a giant subway tunnel."

"But I see no tracks. Nor any tired passengers with begrudging looks on their faces." Starfire puzzled.

"Look how LONG it is." Said Robin, looking away from the massive pile of icy debris.

Starfire stood next to her leader, looking down the broad, black tunnel, until the walls could no longer be seen on either side. They yawned away into the distance, to disappear into the glacier beyond.

"Deja vu." Robin said, his memory starting to prick at something.

"Gesundheit." Starfire said helpfully.

Robin smiled slightly and said, "Thank you, but I meant I'm getting a serious feeling of familiarity from this tunnel."

"What kind of feeling?"

"Like I've been here before. Or someplace similar." Robin mused.

"Do you suppose anyone is down here with us?"

"I don't know. But if there is, I'm not sure-"

"**_HEL-LOOO!_**" Starfire gave a mighty shout down the channel before her.

'**Hel-looo!…**Hel-looo!…Hel-looo!…Hel-loo!…Hel-looo!…' came the many echoes from Starfire's yell.

Robin unplugged his ears, listening as the bellowing shout grew fainter and fainter. "That might not have been the best idea."

"Why ever not?"

"Because now the ground is shaking from the reverberations of your yell." Robin observed, feeling the ice shake beneath him. "We don't want this place toppling down on us."

Starfire could feel it too now. "Uh, Robin?"

"Yea, Star?"

"Perhaps my imagination has carried me away, but it seems as if the tremors are…_increasing_."

Robin felt the ice beneath him with his hand. Sure enough, the shaking sensation was beginning to heighten in intensity. Little chips of ice began to rattle and dance across the surface of the ice, and pieces of the large pile behind them were now rolling down he steep sides.

"Earthquake?" Starfire asked, her anxiety growing.

"Not in the _arctic_. It almost feels like…" But Robin's mind dawned on him faster than his mouth could move. "_Oh no_…"

"What is it? What's _**wrong**_?" Starfire asked in alarm.

Robin managed to access one of his grappling hooks and wrap his free arm around Starfire, just as the shaking intensified and a fait white light could be made out behind the fallen pile of ice. "Hang on to me!"

**P-tooosh! CLING!**

The hook was launched and buried itself in the arch of the tunnel ceiling. Robin and Starfire were pulled to nearly the top, just as the pile of ice exploded beneath them.

_**Buh-BOOOOOOOOOMMM! **_

Starfire clung to Robin as both heroes dangled precariously above a large, green, fast moving machine. One that gave _both _titans the sense of deja vu.

"A SLADE _digger_!" Starfire yelled over the noise, watching as the many red lights of the great machine sped beneath her feet.

It was as if a freight train were passing under them, traveling at an unheard-of speed, with only a few feet of clearance between the rushing steel and the hanging titans. The dark green machine moaned as it traveled, the steel flexing and compensating for the changes in the icy tunnels shape. Robin and Starfire were able to see the laser-emitting red nodes beneath their swinging feet, lighting up each other's faces as it plunged ahead.

"It's moving through the cavern! It's heading in the same direction we were!" Robin yelled. "If we fallow it, we'll finally find SLADE!"

"What do we do _now_ then?" Star asked.

"Wait till it leaves, then follow the tunnel!" Robin said, tryin to ease the weight off of his load-bearing shoulder. "Once it passes, we can-"

"I have an idea!" Starfire interrupted, before reaching up and pulling the hook out of the ceiling.

Robin was appalled, but couldn't react fast enough. He was free falling before he could even speak. "STARFIRE! _What are you_-?"

_**SNAG!**_

Before he knew it, Robin was being held by Starfire…and Starfire was clinging to the digger.

"Please hold on _tightly_!" Starfire asked, offering a reassuring smile.

"What are you _DOING_?" Robin asked as his face was pressed against the freezing metal under him.

"I believe you call this 'hitch-hiking', yes?" Starfire asked, tightening her grip.

The ride was really something else. Cold air caused Robins cheeks to flutter out to their sides, and the ice came as close as a foot above his head at times. The constant din of the machine was doing a number on his ears, and the ups and downs of the trip were beginning to affect Robin's stomach.

Of course, Starfire was having far too much fun for it to be appropriate. "_Wheeee!_"

This continued for maybe ten minutes, during which time the cavern seemed to change. The surface of the cavern ceiling seemed to be morphing, both in texture and in shape. They were rounder now, and every so often, a large panel of technology, with red lights and antennae, appeared above them, to disappear again as the digger rushed away.

'_We must be getting close.' _Robin thought as he and Starfire plunged forward on their snaking transport.

"Robin! I can see _light!_" Starfire informed him, causing his neck to crane forward to look.

"Sunlight?"

"No! Fluorescent and harsh! But it is getting _brighter_!"

The cavern was now much lighter than it had been several minutes ago. But the digger was not slowing down, and the cavern was only getting brighter.

"Starfire!" Robin yelled as he cleared pieces of ice from his face. "On the count of three, let go!"

"Very well! One…" she said.

"Two…" he said.

"**THREE!**"

Starfire released her death grip from the surface of the digger, and flew backwards, letting Robin pull away as well. She floated to a halt, her momentum carrying her several yards forward, before she landed softly.

Robin did a very impressive back-flip off of the Slade-express, and landed heavily upon the newly ground-up ice. His heavy shoes dug into the ground, slowing his slide, and he stopped a few feet ahead of Starfire, his hands balancing his still wobbly body.

Both titans had ejected a few hundred feet from a large, circular opening at the end of the tunnel. The light that flooded in was blue-gray in color, and it cast long shadows behind the two teens. But it was too bright to determine what shapes lay beyond.

"What _is_ this?" Robin asked aloud.

Starfire took a few steps forwards, and stood beside her new-found love, and took his hand in hers. "I do not know. And I am not sure I am eager to find out."

"You're a little worried, huh?" Robin asked, looking at his gorgeous Starfire.

She looked at him, her face passive and thoughtful. She seemed to look him over, taking in all his features in the pale light ahead of them. For a moment, it seemed as if the cavern, the cold, and the mission ahead no longer mattered. Just the two of them were there. And everything else fell from importance.

"Tell me again." She asked him.

"Tell you? Tell you what?" Robin asked softly, his eyebrow crooked sharply in confusion.

"How you feel. But without hesitation." Starfire said, moving closer to him across the slush and powder. "Just be the 'frank' with me."

Robin was at once warm again, and he smiled his trademark grin. The words came much easier this time, having long since rooted themselves within him.

"I Love you, Starfire. More than I ever thought possible."

Starfire raised her arm again, and pulled it back as if to deliver another blow to Robin's already tender chest.

Needless to say, Robin looked petrified. _'Not again, NOT AGAIN!' _

But instead of being hit, he felt her strong, soft arm wrap around his neck, and pull him into another warm, loving kiss.

Robin's relief at not being pummeled again only heightened his enjoyment of the kiss, and he pulled his alien princess closer, pressing her against his body, lifting her from the ground with his arms.

Of course, the kiss lasted several moments, but it was not nearly long enough for the two of them. Robin felt Starfire reluctantly pull back, and he looked at her in his post-bliss state, his fingers still wrapped in her hair. "So I guess you _are_ a little scared, huh?"

"Actually, Robin, I am not." Star stated, her smile soft and confident.

"Then why…?"

"I Love you as well." Starfire admitted, her voice carrying the honey-sweet sound of a woman who has spoken her heart.

"_How_ did...I mean, _when_ did you know how you felt...?"

"In a way, I always have." Starfire said, placing a hand on Robin's cheek, her eyes fixated upon his, as she slowly stroked the cool softness of his skin. "And so long as I know that you love me, _truly _love me...I fear _nothing_."

Robin was overcome with a strange tugging sensation in his chest, and he knew it to be his heart. It pulled him closer, till his forehead met with Starfire's.

They closed their eyes, and drowned in each others love for a moment.

Had the sensation been enough to actually suffocate them, both would have died happily right there and then. Everything else was but a distant sensation at the moment. Starfire's soft body and warm embrace were enough to clear the boy wonders' head of all dread. And the strong, amorous touch of the man she loved brought new sensations of happiness to Starfires already singing heart.

All that mattered was _her_ Robin…and _his_ Starfire.

Time, of course, is a cruel mistress, and so Robin and Starfire could not stay lost in each other forever; even if both were sorely tempted.

Robin turned his head towards the cavern opening. "Ready?"

Starfire gave him one final squeeze. "Ready."

Both walked towards the light in the near distance, and stood at the mouth of the tunnel entrance. The light assaulted their eyes for a moment, but after adjusting, Robin and Starfire were able to make out the vast scene before them.

Neither could keep their mouths closed. It was a wonder that either could speak.

"What on **_earth_**…?" Starfire asked, aghast.

Robin wasn't much better. But he summed up their thoughts fairly well. "Starfire, that's just _it_…"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think that this…_any _of this…is _of_ this earth."


	13. PiggyBack

_I do apologize for my lateness in posting for this fic. College can be a pain in the butt, especially when your teachers are smug and totally insensitive to your problems or other responsibilities. I will prevail, I promise, but with mid-terms approaching, I doubt I will be able to post again until after a week or more form now. As I have said, I will complete this story very soon, and will post with regularity as soon as my classes become less of a burden. Until that time, I thank you for your various reviews up until now, and hope you will review this chapter with equal care. Once more, please read, review, and enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. But as soon as I become rich and powerful, I will use my influence to re-submit Teen Titans to Cartoon Network. Check back with me in 2028. _

**Chap. 13: Piggy-Back**

"Could you _be _any slower?" came an irritated grunt.

"He can't respond to you when he's like that, remember?" said a sarcastic voice.

'_He isn't exactly helping the situation.'_ thought the 'slow one' in question.

The entire scene couldn't have been more surreal. The moonlight was crisp and bright, the air was sharp and cold, and the arctic wasteland had a calmness about it that was not too dissimilar than that of an oil painting; soft and still, delicateand direct.

The illusion became somewhat lacking upon the approach of a large green mammoth, carrying a very heavy, very _noisy_ piece of cargo. "I think I'm getting motion sickness."

"From the way you drive the T-Car? I'd think you had a cast-iron stomach." Raven told Cyborg while sitting before him.

"Cast _aluminum_, actually." Cyborg corrected, his face assuming the color of his precarious perch for a second. "But that doesn't mean I can't get sick."

Raven looked down upon the shaggy green back of BeastBoy the Mammoth. "I don't think BeastBoy would take too kindly to you if you hurled all over him."

"Look, if I could walk on my own, I would. But for now, until I can find a spare subroutine relay disc for my hydraulic-quadriceps, I'm as lame as a horse with a broken ankle." Cyborg shrugged.

'_I SWEAR he ain't using real words.' _BeastBoy thought, clear as a bell in Ravens head.

'_He means his legs are busted.' _Raven translated.

'_Oh.'_

"Does he _have_ to wobble from side to side like that?" Cyborg asked, his arms flailing as he tried to steady himself.

'_Oh, I don't know, if I was minus about, say…four-hundred fifty pounds, yea, I'd be steady as a rock.' _BeastBoy thought wearily.

Raven scowled. "Not funny."

'_As usual.' _

"What's not funny?" Cyborg asked.

"Never Mind." Raven said, waving it off.

For a while, the only sound to be heard was the steady crunching of snow and ice beneath the frying-pan sized feet of BeastBoys feet, as he carried his injured companions. The night was otherwise deathly quiet. Not for lack of conversation; BeastBoy could have been cracking jokes the whole time if his mouth had not been somewhat deformed at the moment. And Cyborg could certainly have droned on and on about how miserable he was, how much his stomach hurt, how embarrassed he was to be riding BeastBoy the furry elephant through the arctic night, etc.

The overwhelming feeling of dread and uncertainty proved to be a very effective tranquilizing agent. No one felt like talking.

At least, not verbally. _'How are you feeling?' _

The question caught the changeling off-guard. _'Uh…fine. Just, ya know…worried.' _

'_What about?' _Raven asked as she steadied herself higher upon the mammoths' shoulders.

BeastBoy swung his scruffy trunk back and forth, as if uneasy. _'Our situation.' _

Raven tilted her head down to try and look into the cue-ball sized eyes of the creature beneath her. _'It's more than that. I can tell.' _

BeastBoy gestured with his mighty shoulders as if her were shrugging, an impressive feat considering his payload. _'You're the psychic. Maybe you could tell me.' _

'_I'm empathic. There's a difference.' _Raven reminded him. _'What you're feeling seems to be much more…acute, than simple anxiety. More…personal.' _

'_You want an honest answer?' _BeastBoy asked.

'_No. LIE to me.' _Raven mentally kidded him.

'_Ok. I have NO problem with the fact that we're completely lost in one of the coldest and strangely UN-COOLEST places in all creation. I'm just FINE with the idea of having to drag Cyborg around on my back while he complains about every non-existent bump in the ice. And the concept of having to potentially face SLADE and his minions ALONE because you're injured and Cy's broken is just PEACHY by me.' _BeastBoy vented, his frustration punctuated by a short trumpet from his trunk.

Raven was surprised, both at the candidness and vocabulary, of BeastBoys answer. It surprised her more that BeastBoy continued with the same zeal. _'But you know what I'm REALLY looking foreword to?'_

'_What?' _Raven thought hesitantly.

'_Trying to convince myself that I did all I could AFTER the fight. I'm gonna LOVE trying to persuade myself that your death wasn't my fault. That I fought bravely…that I gave one-hundred and ten percent…and that you died because of circumstances beyond my control.' _BeastBoy sarcastically said to his dark passenger. _'I'm just **tickled** about that prospect.' _

Raven couldn't help but wonder what he was getting at. Something didn't add up, and she pressed down upon BeastBoys head to get his attention. _'But that doesn't make sense.' _

'_What doesn't? _BB asked.

'_Well, for one thing…I'm not dead! Neither is Cyborg.' _Raven stated.

BeastBoy took a deep breath, filling his row-boat sized lungs, and sighed deeply, fog billowing out of his green mouth. With his deflating body, Raven thought his apprehension would billow away as well.

In fact, it only worsened. _'You're right. For now, you are correct. For now.' _

'_What, you think I'm gonna topple off your back and break mine? What do you mean by 'FOR NOW?'' _Raven asked, her attempt to lighten the mood failing.

BeastBoy shuddered. _'What if we fight SLADE and your powers haven't returned? Or Cyborg hasn't repaired himself? What happens then?' _

Good question. _'Well…**we'll**…you'll have to…I mean, I guess it would be up to **you** to…'_

BeastBoy cut her off. _'**Protect** you?' _

To her, it seemed as if he spat the question out. She felt somewhat indignant. _'And what is WRONG with that? You don't WANT to protect us?' _

'_How can I protect you!' _BeastBoy flared suddenly, his mental voice overlapping Ravens. _'I couldn't even protect **HER**.'_

Raven visibly recoiled. She felt lightheaded and the throbbing from earlier seemed to get worse. She would have certainly fallen from her mount and into the snow, if Cyborg hadn't been behind her when she began to lean backwards.

"Whoop! Careful there. Long way to the ice." Cyborg said with a friendly grip on her shoulder. The cold metal of his hand brought a sharp gasp to her mouth, and she was alert once more. No worse for ware.

Cyborg had noticed something by then, of course. "Are you OK Raven?"

Raven did not turn to him. "Yes."

"But you seem so-"

"I said _I'm alright._" Raven warned.

Cyborg smiled nervously. _With_ powers or _without_, Raven was _still_ a force to be reckoned with. "Oh, yea, sure…whatever you say."

Raven couldn't take her eyes off of BeastBoys gigantic green head. The fur-covered ears would have looked comical is their sharp green contrast against the snow. But as of right now, Raven could only feel overwhelmingly flabbergasted. Not only was his tone angry and sad at the same time, but the fact that he mentioned…even _thought_ about…

The concept had her mind reeling. But of course, she knew what BeastBoy had meant by 'Her.'

His thought process interrupted hers. _'I'm sorry, Raven. That might have been out of line.' _

Raven didn't quite let it go after his apology. _'Then why did you make the comparison?' _

He tilted his head back. _'Because it's true; I couldn't…I DIDN'T stop what happened from happening. And even when I thought she had returned, I still couldn't do what was necessary to bring her memory back.' _

Raven was plenty mad now. It showed in the vein on her forehead. _'We have no actual proof that she was the real thing. Besides, why would you think that either of us…that **I **am anything like **her**? Why would you even make put me in the same CATEGORY as Terra?' _

'_There were five of us there that day, Raven.' _BeastBoy reminded her. _'The combined force of the Teen Titans. And personally, I don't remember a time since when I fought as hard as I did, save when I was fighting my double during that thing with your dad.' _

'_What's your point?' _Raven asked harshly, her anger hiding her real curiosity.

'_The FIVE of us couldn't save one girl, let alone **me** on my own personal vendetta against her and SLADE.' _BeastBoy thought quietly. _'What chance do I have on my own when two of our best are practically out of commission?' _

The great mammoth shuddered his four ton frame, shaggy green fur rustling the snow around him. _'What do I tell myself after I try my best to save you…and watch you fall **away** from me again?' _

Ravens anger bled from her like a poisonous river, ebbing away, to be replaced by thick slab of understanding and dread. It weighed heavy in the pit of her stomach. But it did not deter her from her questions, even though a great many had just been answered.

Strangely, the only thing that Raven wanted at that moment was BeastBoy as a human. Talking to a mammoth seemed somewhat impersonal to her.

Besides that, she didn't know how to _comfort_ a mammoth. _'BeastBoy…I didn't…'_

'_Watching you **die** because **I **let you down…would kill me.' _BeastBoy said, as calmly as he could. _'That simple.'_

The sheer vastness of the terrain became apparent to her at that moment; the rolling glacier, the dry, freezing air, the sharp light of the moon…and the three fatigued travelers marching through it all. Big as BeastBoy was, and as technologically advanced as Cyborg appeared, Raven couldn't help feeling…small.

She couldn't imagine how small BeastBoy felt at the moment.

But one question still burned in the back of her mind. One she wasn't sure about how to phrase, but one she thought might bring some solace to her melancholy friend.

It came to her as a different inquiry all together. _'BeastBoy…you know that I am not completely human, correct?' _

BeastBoy kept marching through the deep snow. His response was less powerful than his foot-falls, and less certain in nature. _'Yea…'_

'_Tell me what you DO know.' _Raven thought to him softly.

'_I know your mother looked just like you. And that your father is Trigon.' _BeastBoy said as he crunched forward. _'Which means that you are half human…and half demon?' _

'_Correct.' _Raven said. _'Whether I like it or not, I am half of what my father is. He gave me a great deal of my powers…and his curse. I **inherited**, and became **burdened**, with both.' _

'_But that wasn't YOUR fault.' _The mammoth protested._ 'It's not like you choose to be your dads' helper. And we beat him, didn't we?' _

'_Yes, we did. And as a result, I received a second chance at a life I never knew I could attain. I changed my destiny…my birthright.' _Raven said solemnly. _'But that doesn't change who I am…or WHAT I am.' _

'_You're Raven. That's what I know, and that's all I need.' _BeastBoy said confidently, with the most enthusiasm she had seen him use in nearly three days.

Raven felt warm at his comment, but didn't loose momentum, even as she swayed back and forth atop the mammoths back. _'You are correct, sort of. I am now my own person, and I am free to do whatever I wish to with my life. But sometimes…I need more than that. To stay stable, I mean.'_

BeastBoy seemed to stumble slightly at her comment. _'**Raven**! I…well, I never thought that you…well, I was CURIOUS, but I would never have asked something so personal about…' _

Raven was quick to catch him. _'Not like that, BeastBoy! Can you stay with me for a moment?' _

'_Sorry.' _

'_I rely on a sense of dependability and belief. A belief in what I can do, and that I will have help from others whenever I need it.' _Raven tried to sum up.

'_Like those life-line thingies on T.V. reality shows?' _BeastBoy guessed.

'_I look at it as more of a trust.' _Raven said carefully. _'As more of a…faith.'_

BeastBoy was silent for a moment. Raven was prepared for that, and spoke again before he could, wrapping her cape tighter around her body. _'Seems strange, doesn't it? Someone who is half demon with…**faith**, in something.' _

His answer was one she didn't expect. _'Not really.' _

'_What?' _

'_It's not a strange idea.' _BeastBoy said again, as his heavy shoulders rose and fell into the snow.

'_You don't think so?' _Raven asked again, her eyes slightly bigger with her confusion.

'_Raven, you're riding a kiwi colored mammoth through the arctic with a half-man, half robot sitting behind you. If you see anything weirder out here, **please**, give me a heads up.' _BeastBoy said, a hint of his usual humor behind his rhetoric. _'I'll ask Cyborg to get a Polaroid.' _

Raven seemed satisfied with the answer, and absentmindedly stroked her head bandage. The now rough cloth felt scratchy and stiff, so she gently removed it from her head. It felt good to have the pressure relieved from her wound, and she examined it with her fingers.

She dangled the bandage before BeastBoys large eyes. _'I never did thank you for this. I never… really got the chance.' _

BeastBoy seemed to acknowledge the cloth with his pupil. _'It was no big deal.' _

Raven shook her sore head, her face holding a small smile. _'For somebody with such big ears, you don't hear too well, do you?' _

BeastBoy tried to wrap his brain around that concept. _'But…I hear you fine…my ears…I mean, my HEAD…it can still…wait, start over…' _

'_Never mind that part.' _Raven said dismissively. _'The point is, you actually CONSIDERED helping me…**healing** me, as it were.' _

'_I don't follow.' _BB said blankly.

Raven thought this might be difficult. _'Even though I've never said anything out loud to the team, I actually have a great deal of trust in them; a great deal of reliance upon them, to make decisions like this.'_

BeastBoy was silent for a moment. As silent as a mammoth could be, given his mobility. But it lasted only as long as BB felt it necessary. _'Like who?' _

'_All of you!' _Raven said matter-of-factly. _'Everyone has done so MUCH for me since I became a part of this team. I have faith in their friendship, their courage, their trust…everything I can think of, actually.' _

BeastBoy considered that for a moment. _'I never knew you saw it that way. Honestly, I kinda figured you trusted the **team**. Just not…well…'_

He didn't finish his sentence. He didn't have to. As acute as her sense of empathy was, regardless of the state of her powers, BeastBoy was among the easiest people to read sometimes. And the last part of his sentence was as obvious to her as if it were spray-painted across his pelt.

Raven hesitantly reached her hand out from the warmth of her cloak, and placed it behind BeastBoys ear, in the sensitive area near all the various conjoining blood vessels. She could feel his apprehension at her sudden touch, but gave several small strokes, as if tracing the lines of a palm. But her hand felt warm and tender, even if it was tiny compared to his ear at the moment.

To date, it was the most affectionate thing she had done with another living creature…at least, _consciously_.

BeastBoy suddenly felt very warm, despite his surroundings. _'Raven…I don't…what're you…?' _

'_I'm worried too, BeastBoy.' _The dark goddess thought softly. _'About us, about the others, about the mission…but I want you to know something.' _

'_What's that?' _

'_Regardless of what we face, regardless of what happens…I want you to know, that, DESPITE what I have seen and experienced, you should remember that my faith remains strong…' _She trailed momentarily.

Raven bent forward, and whispered in his actual ear as she stroked it.

"…but it remains strongest in **_you_**."

Admitting a dependency on ANYTHING was hard for Raven to do, normally. Admitting her need…and _faith_ in BeastBoy took nearly everything she had. Her chest was filled with a deep, poignant warmth; one that she hadn't thought possible…not for a long, long time.

But, to say the least, the sensation felt really, REALLY good.

A profound, resonating bellow could be heard from deep within the massive chest of the mammoth. It shivered and shook its way all over his body, vibrating through its muscles and bones, the sound carrying slightly over the snow. It shook the residual ice from the thick carpet of fur over its legs and stomach, and its body rose in temperature by several degrees.

Raven was at first startled by the physical shutter that coursed the whole mammoths' body. The moonlight made it difficult to tell whether or not the snow had caused it, or whether BB was simply tired.

She received her answer when she felt a warm, muscular vine rap itself around her left leg, and felt it give a gentle squeeze. Raven looked at the lime-green trunk as it gave her a small leg-hug, and welcomed the scruffy warmth that came with it. Warmth, it seemed, that was derived from the hugs intention, instead of the hug itself.

'_Thank You, Raven.' _came the soft telepathic voice of her friend. _'That meant a lot to me…more than you realize.' _

It had been a long time since Raven had been this touched. But there was something more this time; something foreign, and at the same time, almost…_fulfilling._

It didn't matter right then, not to Raven. Nothing mattered. Nothing but the feeling…and the wonderful powerlessness she felt in it.

"Uhh…ya'll need a minute? 'Cause I'm sure I can catch the next mammoth…" came a slightly cocky voice, disrupting the calm of the frozen night.

BeastBoys tranquil demeanor was almost instantly replaced by one of frustration, and mischief. _'Raven?'_

'_Yes, BeastBoy?' _

'_Hold on to my ears…TIGHTLY.' _BeastBoy instructed.

'_Alright, but why-?' _But BeastBoy answered her question before she could finish.

_**Ker-PLUNK!**_

"_What_ the-!" **_WUMPF!_**

Raven was suddenly looking straight up at the evening sky, her hands gripping the soft cartilage atop BeastBoys ears. Her surprise was evident, but her understanding of what had happened nearly gave her the dreaded 'giggles' that Happy was so prone give her. Interestingly enough, the situation would have warranted it.

Essentially, BeastBoy had just dropped his three-thousand pound rump into the snow very suddenly. He sat much like a giant terrier, while Raven hung on to his ears for dear life. BB's warning had been sufficient.

Cyborg, however, had NOT been warned. "Veast Voy! Dis ibn't _fuddy_!"

The muffled yell came from behind Raven. She turned to investigate…and couldn't help but snicker.

Cyborg was head first in the snow, his arms and chest hidden from view, with his waist and legs sticking out of the surface, still in the straddle position Raven had put them in when they had first departed the cave. His angry yells were all but stifled by the thick powder.

Basically, Cyborg was immobile, and spread-eagle to the arctic sky.

'_Did **I **do that? Oh, how CLUMSY of me…' _BeastBoy said, as he stood and shook the snow from his wide posterior.

"I'b hoeing vo fount vo _flee_…" came the threatening muffled tone.

Raven reasserted herself atop her ice-aged steed and look down at BB again.

"That was actually _funny_…" Raven said softly.

'_Huh?' _BeastBoy asked.

"Never mind." Raven said aloud, dismissing her complement. "You'd better pick him up."

The large animal slowly swung his huge head around the side of his body, and wrapped his muscular trunk around the midsection of his partially paralyzed partner. Cyborg must have sensed this, for he had stopped flailing his arms beneath the snow, and for a moment, he resembled a lawn-gnome that had been placed in the ground on his head.

With a heavy grunt, BeastBoy plucked his friend from the snow like a giant blue daisy. Cyborg made a very amusing 'POP' as he was hoisted out of the snow, and he crossed his arms at his own indignation, spitting ice out of his mouth, hanging upside down like a hooked fish.

"I bet you're REAL proud of yourself, aren't ya?" Cyborg asked the furry elephant, as it placed him upon its back.

'_This is your captain speaking. We ask all patrons to please keep your tray-tables AND mouths **shut** during the duration of the trip. Thank you for choosing BeastBoy Tundra Tours!' _BB said in his mind, knowing only Raven could hear.

Raven allowed a small smile to tug at her lips, and looked at the ice-crusted bionic man behind her. "I never thought it possible, but…he got you _good_!"

Cyborg flicked away various pieces of debris from his pectoral armor and his forearm junctions, an annoyed look on his face. "Oh, lay off."

'_Did widdle Cy-bee Wy-Bee not wike his swide into da snow?' _BeastBoy mocked in a child-like voice.

"You have to admit, it was pretty clever." Raven said good-naturedly.

Cyborg looked straight ahead, his face somewhat different, but still frowning. "Raven?"

"Yes?"

"I'm seeing red." Cyborg said unblinkingly.

Raven rolled her eyes slightly. "Aren't we being a little dramatic, Cyborg?"

'_Maybe I hurt his pride. I wonder what glove compartment he keeps it in.' _BeastBoy thought softly, smiling a big mammoth smile.

"No, Raven…I'm seeing _red._" Cyborg said, more urgently this time.

"Cyborg, I don't understand what you-"

_**Sizzle-POW!**_

The snow drift to their right exploded in a flash of red light and scorching steam. The three titans were broadsided by a wave of sound and heat, tilting and then toppling the mammoth and its passengers.

Cyborg landed face up this time. "I TOLD you I saw red!"

"You said _red_, not _laser_!" Raven said from a few feet to his left. She was crawling, military style, towards the prone metal-man. "Red does not mean 'Duck'!"

_**Sizzle-POW! POW!**_

Two more shots scorched the night air above Cyborgs head. He jerked his head down, and Raven followed suit, now inching even slower through the frigid snow. Her fingers felt numb, and her rapid movement had increased the throbbing in her head. But she managed to reach Cyborg, dodging more shots as the came.

"Where's BB?" Cyborg asked.

"You didn't see where he fell?" Raven asked, panic welling up inside her again.

"I guess I lost sight of him." Cyborg said, his eyes darting back and forth.

"How do you lose sight of a GREEN _mammoth_?" Raven asked angrily.

_**Sizzle-POW! P-WOOSH! **_

It was then that both titans heard a voice ahead of them. "Will you two knock it off and get over here?"

BeastBoy appeared to be buried up to his chest in snow, but as both Cyborg and Raven crawled towards the sound of his voice, they saw that he was actually standing in a small pit. The laser fire still continued over his head, but he stood almost comfortably in the large depression in the snow.

BeastBoy had unwittingly created a small shelter for himself when he fell to the snow. A mammoth can make quite an impression, and in more ways than one. "Are you two OK?"

Raven rolled over the edge of the small pit, and half walked, have crab-walked her way over to BeastBoy. Cyborg fell over the four foot wall, and landed very unceremoniously on his face, muttering obscenities into the ground. He was able to right himself once more, and pull his bulk over to his friends.

"I'm gettin' tired of eatin' snow." Cyborg said menacingly.

_**Sizzle-POW!**_

"Well, if you have any bright ideas on what to do about THAT thing…" Raven gestured.

"We're lucky that none of us were fricasseed when that thing shot at us!" BeastBoy said as he watched the red beams of light jut over the rim of their hiding place.

Raven became curious for a second. Specifically about BeastBoys comment. Something about this attack felt…off. "Why _didn't _it hit us?"

Her question got the attention of the boys, and they turned to her with puzzled, reddish faces from the now almost constant red light around them. "What do you mean?"

"No offense, BeastBoy," she answered him, "But you were the size of a house, and none too nimble. How did it miss you?"

_**Sizzle-POW! Sizzle-POW!**_

"I'm not sure…but I think I know a way to find out." Cyborg said, pushing himself up into a sitting position, his back to the small wall of ice and snow. "BB, give me a hand with this, OK?"

"Give you a hand with what?" BeastBoy asked as he watched Cyborg. It seemed curious to him that Cyborg was trying to crack his neck at this time, and BeastBoy couldn't figure out what he was trying to do until it was too late.

Raven could only watch in horror, just as BeastBoy was watching, as Cyborg removed his head from his neck.

**POP!**

'_Oh, my God…' _Raven thought. She _thought_ this becuase her mouth refused to open as she witnessed Cyborg remove his head from his shoulders like it was nothing but a hat.

BeastBoy, however, was much more vocal with his protest. "CYBORG! Don't do it, man! We'll get out of here, I promise! There's gotta be a way! Don't go out like this, man, please! Not like _THIS_!"

Imagine the shock both titans received when this now severed head began to speak. "BeastBoy, not like this is necessary, but _CHILL_!"

"Cy! Buddy! You're _speakin'_ to me…from _beyond_ the grave!…uh…_scrap-heap_!" BeastBoy hollered with joy.

_**Sizzle-POW!**_

More snow exploded nearby, sending tufts of it raining down upon the three hiding teens.

"Will you knock it off? I'm fine…just 'Taking a load off my shoulders' so to speak." Cyborg said, pieces of icy shrapnel flying over him.

"Since when can you do _that?_" Raven asked slowly.

Cyborg sat, his body immobile and his arms stiff, holding his own head in his massive hands. It was as if a store manikin from a bad horror gift shop were displaying its head to the general public, or offering its skull as a gift or as part of some robotic sacrifice. "I do it to do repairs on my neck-servos and respiratory ducts. It's not painful, if that's what you're worried about."

By now, BeastBoy had recovered substantially; even if his eyes were crossed from the experience. "But…WHY do all that now? Seems a little inappropriate, don't you think?"

"I'm not going to clean…be _quiet_ and get over here!" Cyborg said peevishly.

Reluctantly, BeastBoy approached his now beheaded comrade. "What do you want ME to do?"

"Just take my head and put it above the rim of the wall behind me." Cyborg said calmly. "I'll take a look around and try to figure out what this thing is, and how we can get away from it."

"You want me to what with the huh and put it near the who now?" BeastBoy asked.

"Just take my head and point me towards the mean red lights!" Cyborg yelled, further confusing Raven and BeastBoy. How could he yell without lungs?

"I'm not gonna TOUCH your head, let alone pick it UP!" BeastBoy said, horrified.

"I'll _BITE'CHA_!" Cyborg threatened, clacking his shinny ceramic teeth together.

"Oh for crying out loud, I'LL do it!" Raven said, scooping up Cyborgs head from his stationary fingers.

The phrase 'light-headed' came to mind at the moment, but Raven held back on the comment, for fear that it might insult her headless friend. "Now what?"

"Just point and hold, really. But not _too_ high." Cyborg said, his face very serious for a second. "I haven't shaved my head in years. I don't need want to now!"

Raven scooted over the packed snow towards the edge of their shelter. BeastBoy took her now removed cape and laid it beneath her knee's, so as to keep her legs from stiffening up on the cold ground. Raven moved to the right of Cyborgs immobile body, and began to lift his head to the open, crimson air above.

"We offer you this head, oh Great Red Spirit, in the hopes that this sacrifice will calm your fury…" BeastBoy said in a reverent tone.

"Shut-_up_…" Raven and Cyborg said in unison. BeastBoy couldn't help but smile at their reaction.

"Just a little higher, so that my eyes can scan over the edge. I'll let ya know when I'm there." Cyborg instructed.

Raven kept pushing up, her elbows creaky from the cold. _'I guess BeastBoy was right about him being thick-headed. His head feels like a bowling-ball!' _

_**Sizzle-POW!**_

"Stop!" Cyborg whispered harshly, just as his eyes adjusted.

"Hurry _up_, hurry _up_…" BeastBoy chanted.

"You're not _helping_…" Cyborg warned in a sing-song way through clenched teeth.

Raven held for as long as she could. Thankfully, Cyborg was done after about a minute. "OK, lower away!"

Raven nearly dropped the head in relief and, very briskly, returned it to its proper place upon Cyborgs neck. "So? What is it?"

Cyborgs neck oscillator clicked loudly as Cyborg reattached his head, and his upper body became animate again. "I think I know what shot down the T-ship."

By this time, BeastBoy had become very impatient, what with all the red lights and the tension and all. He quickly morphed a small ferret, and began burrowing into the wall of the depression in which he sat. His tiny, sharp claws made short work of the ice, and he was soon several feet away, horizontally.

'_BeastBoy? What are you doing?' _came Ravens shaky question into BB mind.

'_Getting a closer look.' _BeastBoy said, without loosing momentum in his dig.

'_Cyborg already got a good look! Come back!' _Raven ordered.

'_Relax. They'll never see me! I am 'like the shadow'.' _BeastBoy said in his reverent tone again.

'_Stupid, arrogant, gangrene colored…' _Raven began in her mind.

'_Don't forget handsome!' _BeastBoy said, just as his head popped up through the surface of his cold tunnel.

He didn't like what he saw.

Revolving in a circle, facing in different directions as it turned, was a large, half-spherically shaped object, with a rectangular split opening from one side to the other. A small, black, menacing circle could be seen inside this split, and steam emanated from its opening. It turned on a pivot from left to right, and the small circle would move up and down, seemingly independent of the larger components.

'_I wonder if it can see me…' _BeastBoy thought to himself, cocking his slender head from side to side.

It was then that the little circle, as it were, SAW him. Not only saw, but turned, and focused upon him.

'_Aw, nuts…' _BeastBoy thought, his rodent eyes wide.

_**Sizzle-POW!**_

The next thing Cyborg and Raven knew, a fiery green arrow shot straight out of the wall of their little hide-out, and stuck, nose first, into the opposite wall, with a comical PLUNK sound.

"_That'll_ learn ya." Cyborg said under his breath.

Raven reached over and pulled BeastBoy from the wall, shaking him back and forth to put out the small fire on his green tail. "You never LISTEN, do you?"

BeastBoy's slender body became bulbous and large again, falling into the snow. "OK, THAT was a bad idea."

"Speaking of which…any _fresh_ ones?" Raven asked Cyborg.

"It looks like and automated century, laser armed. We must have triggered it when you were about to step on it." Cyborg hypothesized.

"Mammoths are none too dainty." BeastBoy said with a frown.

"It must have sensed the T-Ship as it passed over the surface of the glacier. The other centuries we saw were the ones that shot us down." Cyborg thought a loud.

"But the T-Ship is _tough!_ How did it shoot us down?" BeastBoy asked in frustration.

"That laser is pretty powerful. And for some reason, it seems kinda…familiar; like we've dealt with these things before." Cyborg said.

"So why did it miss us? I wasn't going nearly as fast as the ship." BeastBoy countered.

"How the heck should I know?" Cyborg said, raising his arms from the snow. "Be thankful it DIDN'T hit you."

"It can't get us while we're down here. Maybe we should just wait till…" BeastBoy began, musing under his chin.

"…its batteries run out? We'll be here till who knows when. I don't plan on waiting THAT long." Cyborg said stiffly.

"Great. So how do WE get away from IT?" Raven asked, trying to maintain the subject.

Cyborg shrugged his huge shoulders, the metal of his body scraping the ice wall behind him. "Not sure. We can't out-run it, not like this. And with your powers on the fritz, we can't sneak attack it."

"Does your cannon still work?" BeastBoy asked.

"Yea, but the snow will muffle the sonic-vibrations before they can cause any damage to the lasers' superstructure. I can't shoot through the snow; so essentially, I have no clear shot at that thing." Cyborg said.

"Hey, I've got it! How about I take off and distract the thing and you two crawl that way, to safety!" BeastBoy said excitedly.

Raven waved him off. "That's a bad idea."

"Why?"

Raven rolled a snowball from the stickier snow beneath her feet, and tossed it straight up into the air, hard. The ball made it approximately five feet above their heads, before it vanished into bright red light.

_**Sizzle-POW!**_

"That's why." Raven said. "You'd never make it a yard before you were shot down like a skeet disc."

BeastBoy cringed at the thought, shuttering in the snow where he sat. "Point taken."

"How did those things sneak up on my external sensors? We should have seen those things coming a mile away, easy." Cyborg wondered, stroking his chin.

"They just popped out of nowhere!" BeastBoy said, cringing as another red beam sizzled past his head. "We didn't know what hit us."

Raven's mind was searching her options like a well trained computer, as was Cyborgs. But the fact remained that these _things_ did just as BeastBoy had said; they shot up out of the snow, and systematically took the T-Ship apart. And now they were defenseless, practically, and out gunned by a very powerful, very methodical laser cannon, that would certainly last longer in the cold then the three of them would.

It was very precarious, the position they were in. And Raven couldn't really think of a decent escape plane. Usually, they just sprung up in her head, but now…

'_Wait a second…' _she thought slowly. _'Sprung…UP?'_

"That's it!" Raven said excitedly.

BeastBoy was spooked out of his doomsday rant. "What? What's 'it'?"

But Raven wasn't paying attention to him at the moment. Her eyes were watching the continuous laser-fire, and drifted down to Cyborgs right arm. "Cyborg?"

"Yea?"

"How much clearance do you need for your cannon to get a clear shot?" Raven asked, her eyes still studying her surroundings.

"Uh…about a foot an a half above the wall." Cyborg calculated. "So about four feet straight up from where I am now. But I can't _stand _on my own, and you can't levitate me, so how exactly…?"

"_I _can't move you." Raven said, nodding towards BeastBoy "But HE can."

"What do you have in mind?" Cyborg asked, his face puzzled at her statement.

Raven hurriedly whispered her plan to the other two Titans, trying to keep it as concise as possible. It was, in essence, very clever, but it would require great timing and precise action; something BeastBoy wasn't too good at.

"Can you handle it, BeastBoy?" Raven asked as she sat against the wall beside him.

"I, uh…well, sure, I suppose, but…are you _sure_ about this?" BeastBoy asked nervously as he rubbed his numb fingers together.

_**Sizzle-POW! Sizzle-POW!**_

"It's a solid plan, if we do it right." Cyborg reassured him. "Do you have a creature in mind?"

"Well YEA, sure, but what if something goes wrong?" BB asked apprehensively. "What if I screw it up?"

"You won't." his friends reassured him.

"But what if I do? One second too long or short, and you guys could-!"

Raven moved swiftly, bringing her slender, delicate fingers to BeastBoys cheeks. They caught his head, as well as his attention, _very_ quickly. She turned his face towards hers, his words immediately dieing in his cold mouth.

Her eyes held his like cobalt gems, deep and powerful in their intensity and shine. His once passive and somewhat paranoid eyes stopped wobbling and darting, to stare back at Raven. Stare, and wait, in perfect silence.

Helen of Troy supposedly launched a thousand ships with her countenance.

Raven of Azarath tamed the entire animal kingdom, _inside_ BeastBoy, with her _eyes_. "Do you remember what I told you?"

BeastBoy whispered, his eyes unblinking. "What?"

"I have _faith_." She said, her powerful eyes looking deep into his, and her soft hands warming the cold green skin of her companion. "Faith in the team…faith in _you_."

BeastBoy could only admire the nearly overpowering sense of strength he felt as he looked into Ravens' beautiful gaze. The red flashes of light and steady vibrations from various explosions were but a distant occurrence at the moment; Raven had made sure of that.

She released him, but kept her eyes steady, despite how long they had been open. She offered a small, reassuring smile to BeastBoy; to her, an expression of encouragement, but to BeastBoy, one of the greatest gifts he had ever received.

Because the smile was genuine. And the smile was for _him_.

"Are you ready?" she asked the green changeling.

BeastBoy looked down at his hand, finally breaking visual contact with his beautiful comrade, and examined himself in the red light.

Cyborg was surprised, and encouraged, to see five sharp claws extend from the fingertips of his tofu-loving friend, flexing and stretching like a predators in anticipation of a hunt. But what made the Bionic Bruiser smile was the familiar, cocky expression that finally crossed BeastBoy's face.

It was overdue by three days now, and Cyborg had missed it.

"Let's _do_ this!" BeastBoy said enthusiastically.

Across the twenty feet or so of snow between the small encampment of the three titans, sat the century on its swiveling station. Its red eye tracked all the motion upon the surface of the ice in front of, behind, and to either side of it. Various readings of temperature variations played across its information display, but it saw nothing moving, and had seen nothing since the snowball had attempted its airborne escape some minutes prior.

A flicker of movement to the side, and a fire command was executed again. A bright red beam of energy pulsed from the emitter, creating yet another superfluous crater in the ice some twenty yards away.

_**Sizzle-POW!**_

The motion sensory array was not performing accurately, but it continued its solo patrol of all the ice surrounding it. The tiny mechanical sounds could barely be heard as the deadly sentry rotated in search of its quarry.

Sudden movement! A blue cape above the ice, dead ahead!

_**Sizzle-POW!**_

The camera upon the sentry focuses in upon the newly exploded piece of cloth, inspecting the damage: sizzled blue material, lots of steam, a massive hole in a body shaped object…

With a cross-looking face made out of green hair?

The computer within the sentry didn't have enough time to register that an error in judgment had occurred, before a metal man popped out of the snow, just to the right, and way to fast to counter.

"_Boo_-yah! _Pop_ goes the _Cyborg!_" came the victorious yell, just before the sentry could turn and see what hit it.

_**Thrummmmmm-BOOM!**_

A wave of charged, highly concentrated sound-wave particles ripped through the metal casing of the sentry like tissue paper. Fragments of shattered metal flew in every direction for nearly one-hundred yards, pelting the snow with tiny craters; a direct hit.

The green head of an almost completely submerged pygmy-rhinoceros poked out from the surface of the ice, shaking the cold material from its stubby horn. _'Did it work?' _

A very exasperated and somewhat peevish Raven stood from her shelter below the now pulverized mini snow-Raven she had constructed herself. "Yea, it _worked _alright…"

"But…?" Cyborg asked, sensing a 'But' was approaching.

"But now, not only does my cape smell like _tofu_, it's extra _crispy_!" Raven exclaimed, holding up her still whole, yet still sizzling cape.

"But at least it's still usable." BeastBoy offered, changing back into his human form. "And if I never have to craw underneath Cyborgs two-ton frozen butt again, it'll be _too_ soon."

Cyborg sat within the snow once more, having dismounted his friends back, and reconfigured his forearm sonic pulse emitter into his regular, five fingered, titanium hand. "I _told_ you the fake eyes would be convincing."

"Raven doesn't have green eyes, Cy."

"I don't think the sentry caught that." Cyborg said, smiling at his handiwork. "Kudos on the Jack-in-the-Box idea, Raven. Very original."

"I don't know about you guys," BeastBoy said as he shook the snow from his hair, "But I've about had enough of being shot at."

"Agreed." Raven said as she approached her teammates through the knee deep drift. "But where do we go from here? We're back at square one; no real directional heading, and one shot-up piece of scrap. What next?"

BeastBoy slowly approached the burnt remnants of the now immobile sentry. Acrid smoke and the sound of sizzling circuitry came from deep within the now vacant dent in the snow. The man-hole sized opening spewed small wisps of smoke and steam that seemed to wrap themselves around BeastBoy's body as he approached it.

He knelt and looked closely at the charcoal colored debris. "Wow."

"What is it?" Raven asked as she walked up from behind him.

BB pulled little bits of still smoking computer equipment from the wreckage. "I'm no whiz with electronic gizmo's and stuff, but this technology seems really…_advanced_."

"Not surprising." Cyborg said from his semi-buried position behind his friends. "If they took _us_ by surprise and blew the T-ship outta the sky, then SLADE must be packing some serious hardware."

"But it's more than that." BeastBoy said. "It's high-tech, sure, but this stuff seems really…_familiar_."

"Familiar _how_?" Raven asked as she looked at the piece of steal in BB's hand.

"I _know _I've seen this 'H' somewhere before." BeastBoy said, racking his limited brain matter over where he had seen it last.

"_H_? What _H_?" Cyborg asked, raising his organic eyebrow.

Raven plucked the piece of technology out of BeastBoys grasp, and slowly walked it over to her paralyzed friend. He was less than pleased at his lack of mobility, but his face was crossed with interest rather than embarrassment, especially when he got his first look at BeastBoys little trinket.

Even his telescopic eye looked surprised. "It's _H.I.V.E._ tech."

"Looks more like Starfire's attempt at pancakes." BeastBoy said as he scratched his now stiff hair.

Cyborg wasn't amused. "No, dummy, its H.I.V.E. technology. I recognize the glyphic 'H'. This design is for Brother Blood's personal energy directing manifolds. I found them all over his 'school' when I infiltrated it."

Raven did some quick comparing and contrasting as she stood in the snow. "But that doesn't make sense. Jinx was here, yea, but…she held Slade's insignia in her hand."

"Brother Blood doesn't use these kinds of weapons." BeastBoy said. "He's always copying Cy's stuff."

"Maybe he's getting creative?" Raven offered. "Or stealing ideas again?"

Cyborg suddenly crushed the blackened piece of steal between his fingers, as if it were noting but a potato chip. "Regardless; if he's here, or connected to what happened to the ship, the team…_Jinx_...or anything else like that, he goes down with SLADE. _Hard_."

Raven could sense the tension and rising aggression within Cyborg. His mind had been playing with the events of the last few days, particularly the events proceeding the day of the giant wave. His frustration and worry over his friends, and over Jinx's predicament, had slowly built themselves up over time. They were ebbing on the brink of Cyborgs control.

While BeastBoy couldn't grasp the same sense of foreboding that Raven could about Cyborgs behavior, he felt for his friend. Cyborg was strong enough to send a city bus careening through the air, and powerful enough to vaporize tanks in a single sonic blast. But for all his anger and pent up worry, BeastBoy knew that Cyborgs greatest motivation was his need to protect those that he cared about. By _any _means necessary.

BeastBoy knew better than to question Cyborgs intention or ability. To do so would be fool-hardy. "We'll make sure of it, Cy. I promise."

Cyborg gave a small smile, which twitched away for a moment. His face slowly sank away from concern, becoming more and more curious in appearance. "Do you guys feel that?"

BB cocked an eye brow, and Raven pulled her cloak tightly around her, trying to fend off the cold. "Feel what? The Over-powering numbness in my arms and legs?"

Cyborg bent forward, catching his significant weight upon his large forearms. Balancing upon one arm in the deep snow, he swiveled around to straighten out his prone legs, so that they pointed directly behind him. Reasserting himself, Cyborg began to 'walk', as it were, upon his hands, through the snow.

Raven and BeastBoy watched as their companion pushed his way through the deep, dense terrain, his hands leaving soft-ball sized holes in his wake as he walked on his fists. The snow would clear from his path, pushed aside by his four and a half foot wide shoulders. A trail, nearly large enough for Raven and BeastBoy to walk down side by side, marked where Cyborg had been.

Though neither one of the other titans had a clue as to what Cyborg was doing anyway.

"He certainly knows how to get around." Raven commented dryly.

"I never thought I would see one of _these_." BeastBoy said in mock wonder.

"One of _what_?" Raven asked.

"A giant, blue, Cybernetic Sea-lion." BeastBoy said, snickering at his own joke.

"O, bur hibarious!" came Cyborgs muffled sarcasm as he knuckle-marched.

BeastBoy followed the trail that Cyborg made behind him, periodically disappearing beneath the actual surface of the snow, as he stepped into the large holes created by Cyborgs hands. Raven watched as Cyborgs shoulders pushed through the snow, while BeastBoy followed bobbing in and out of view, depending on the depth of the hole he stepped in.

"Why am I suddenly reminded of a preschoolers afternoon cartoon?" Raven said to herself as she watched the boys. "What exactly are you looking for, Cyborg?"

Cyborg popped his head out of the snow. "Not looking for," he said, raising a hand before him chest, making a **_Ting! Ting! _**Sound with his metal carpels. "Found."

BeastBoy walked up behind his friend, and, while avoiding his legs, looked at the strange metal object in front of Cyborgs snow-covered chin.

Both were at the base of the recently-destroyed sentry, and at its base, amidst the destroyed remnants of the swivel assembly, was a large hatch. It was hidden beneath snow level, and sounded almost hollow as Cyborg rapped his fingers upon it.

"Dude! You found a door-thingy!" BeastBoy said, examining the door for himself.

"Great; a door in the base of something that tried to barbeque us." Raven said as she approached the guys from behind. "This is cause for celebration…why?"

"Not the door it self," Cyborg said as he felt for an opening, "But what's behind it."

"And what would that be?" BeastBoy asked as he wiped the snow from the slick metal surface of the door.

"Temperature variations, raised and coming from within the door." Cyborg said. "In English: Heat."

_That_ got Ravens attention. "As in…warmer than out here?"

"By about thirty degrees or so." Cy said, as he pried the door from its hinges.

BeastBoys ears twitched, much as they had when Raven and he had shared their moment upon the glacier cliff, and Raven looked at him with wide, hopeful eyes. In unison, both Titans said, "We'll take it!"

Cyborg reached forward and dug his fingers into the crease of the door-frame. It was like watching a toddler dig its fingers into a slice of cake. The metal stretched and wrenched away, and with one tug, Cy popped the hatch off its hinges, and casually tossed the seventy-five pound hunk of steel into the snow.

BeastBoy peered into the dark entryway, his nose wrinkled at the uninviting odor and rickety looking chain ladder attached to the lip of the door frame. "Oh, yea, this looks safe."

"As opposed to taking our chances out in the frozen wasteland for another night?" Raven asked as she felt the heated air touch her face. "Sorry, but I vote creepy hole."

"I second that." Cyborg said, leaning towards the entrance on his ice-covered knuckles.

BeastBoy was still far from convinced. "But…down there…what happens if we…I mean, I'm not sure I can…"

Raven placed a comforting hand upon BB's shoulder, calling his attention as Cyborg slid into the entrance ahead of them. "Remember what I told you?"

BeastBoy hesitated, looked down, and gave an unsure grin with doubtful eyes. "Yea, I do."

"Then don't prove me wrong, alright?" Raven said, her own smile surprisingly bright.

With that, BeastBoy lead Raven by the hand into the small doorway, trailing Cyborg as he lowered his body down the ladder. Raven began her slow decent with BeastBoy close behind, her skin becoming goose-pimpled as the temperature began to rise around her.

Cyborg rolled his eyes as he climbed down. "You'd think they'd wait till we got back to the tower before they started bonding, but NO…"

His attention was diverted upwards for a moment, just in time for a snowball to hit him square in the face. _'I suppose I should have seen that coming.' _

The tunnel in which the three Titans traveled was made of a dense, cold metal, cylindrical in shape and about four feet wide. BeastBoy could no longer see the clouds of breath before his face, and the metal of the ladder rungs became warmer as he climbed further down. It was very dark, but the night-vision capabilities of the shape-shifter told him plenty about his surroundings, even if they really hadn't changed in almost one-hundred yards of climbing. His nose, however, alerted him to something…strange.

"Call me crazy, but something smells familiar." BeastBoy said as he climbed down after his friends.

"OK. You're crazy." Cyborg said from below.

"Do you guys hear that?" Raven asked, her voice suddenly ashen and quiet.

BeastBoy stretched his ears in different directions, widening them in size. His face was quickly serious. "It sounds like…hammers?"

Cyborg began to climb down faster, his friends following suit. BeastBoy's nose began to crinkle up the farther down he went, as a foul, almost palpable stench assaulted his senses. Raven sneezed softly, trying to remove the growing smell before it filled her mouth and nose.

But Cyborg just kept climbing. "I see a light!"

Raven and BB looked down at Cy's sudden outburst, and also, faintly, made out a dull, gray light. "What is it?"

"I don't know, BB. But we're gonna find out." Cyborg said. "Keep climbing!"

Another twelve meters or so, and the light began to fill the small tube of steel in which the titans climbed. Cyborg could see that the ladder continued on beyond the bottom of the tunnel, and hung in mid air, cast in the harsh, florescent light. It dangled like a fish line and then just ended, effectively ending the journey after only about five meters outside the tube.

It didn't really matter though. Upon reaching the end of their rope, as it were, the only thing that the three Titans could do was stop…and stare…

…and try not to fall from disbelief.

Both BeastBoy and Raven could only gawk at the horrific scene some two thousand feet below them. BeastBoy's eyes looked hollow, and Raven's mouth was agape in shock.

Cyborg was able to speak.

But not very much. "_Oh…my_…"


	14. Atrocities

_This chapter should be read in conjunction with the last few lines of text in the previous chapter. Originally, this was one large chapter, but it felt awkward, so I decided to make it into two. I think it gets the point across fairly well, and some new clues are given. But we are still a good five or maybe even six chapters from the end, folks. I appreciate your patience and dedication to my story, and I hope you find this chapter equally satisfactory. I do want as many reviews as possible, and in the mean-time, as soon as mid-terms fizzle out, I will complete Chap: 15. Till then, read, review, and enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: If there were even the slightest possibility that a Teen Titans movie were in production, I would own a piece of that. But there isn't, and so I don't own squat. _

**Chap. 14: Atrocities**

"…_goodness_." Starfire whispered, her hands at her mouth. She felt as though she might vomit.

"There's _nothing_ good about this Star." Robin said softly. "Not…_one_…thing."

The bright turquoise light lit the entire inside of the chamber, suspended somewhere in the center of the massive, dome-like ceiling above. It might have been brighter, were it not for the fog-like mist that hung in the air. There was a sense of space around the two super-teens, as if they were in a tiny boat in a smog covered ocean; they could not see how big the area was, but they could sense its enormity.

At the moment, however, Starfire was not paying attention to the vastness of her surroundings. She was standing, aghast, at something right in front of her. "How _could_ he…what _monster_ would…?"

"I've never referred to SLADE as _anything_ but a _monster_." Robin said, standing at her side. "The bastard hasn't lost his touch."

It was big; about the size of a mini-van and twice as long, with deep gray skin and short, powerful forequarters. Robin could make out long tusks on the lower mandible and a flat, broad nose. The tail was only about ¼ as long as the total body, curled around the hindquarters in a restful position, as if the creature were only sleeping upon the stained ice beneath it.

The blue blood, flowing from several large lacerations on its back, told a different story. "It was killed…_murdered_."

"It looks familiar." Robin said, putting his staff to one side, examining the body. "I swear I've seen a creature like this before. They're not from Earth…but _where_?"

"Thragnal's." Starfire said solemnly, examining the huge gashes to the throat and underbelly of the animal, the entrails sprawled at her feet upon the ice. "A species found on my planet, used as pets and as a form of palace security. BeastBoy was able to assume their form when we team visited Tameran."

The light-bulb blinked on in Robin's head. "I remember! Those things looked _tough_." He said, his memory fading with his smile. "So what could have killed such a beast…and why is it even _here_?"

Starfire clenched her small hands into fists, the bright green energy of her star-bolts growing slightly larger. "SLADE has been to my planet…_illegally_ transported an endangered species to this place…and has _slain_ it without proper cause."

Robin backed away slightly from the Thragnal, the heat from Starfire's energy almost proportional to her rage. He knew better than to get too close to her when she was like this. "Starfire…?"

She turned to face him, the light from her eyes piercing the thick fog. She spoke slowly and evenly, weighing each word carefully. "SLADE and I will have words regarding this crime." She said icily, turning away from the large carcass. "And _then _some."

Robin watched as Starfire slowly walked away, towards what they both agreed was the center of the massive chamber. He followed, glancing back once more at the pitiful creature, before it disappeared from sight, swallowed up by the mist.

Once he was able to catch up, Robin attempted to change the subject to something more constructive. He didn't like it when Starfire was this distraught, anymore than she enjoyed _feeling_ that way. "This place seems so…_huge._"

"Yes. I am surprised that such a place has never before been mentioned in any of Earths exploration records." Starfire agreed, attempting to see the source of the turquoise light that seemed to fill the entire cavern.

"I don't think this place is a natural occurrence. Not like the underground prehistoric paradise at the other end of the planet. I think this place is…_artificial_." Robin said, jumping over an outcropping of ice in his path.

"Why do you say that?" Starfire asked, floating over the same ice structure.

"Are you _cold_?" Robin asked.

"Well…_no_." Starfire admitted. "I am comfortable, I suppose."

"And yet we're still standing on a huge plane of ice, right?" Robin asked.

Starfire looked down. Sure enough, the ground was solid ice, as it had been on the surface. But the air was relatively warm.

It was then that she realized Robin's point. "I think I understand. I can no longer even see my breath in this place, but the ice remains as solid and cold as any we have walked upon. But how can that be?"

"It's because the atmosphere in here is being _controlled_. It is warm enough to remain comfortable, but cold enough to keep the ice frozen." Robin explained. "Someone has control of the weather within this dome, to an extent."

He then pointed ahead of himself. "And whoever helped SLADE build that structure we saw earlier…_they_ are the ones we need to find."

Starfire recalled the image in her mind. As she and Robin had excited the tunnel, both could see a massive building in the distance, its base hidden by the dense fog through which they now walked. The building had looked alien in design; it was much too outlandish in structure to have been anything Earth-borne.

Both Titans felt a universally sinister vibe, however. No good would come of this discovery. "But my question from two days ago still stands, Robin; why would SLADE begin such an unbelievably extensive project in such a cold and dismal place?"

"Think about it, Star: SLADE can use this location to do _anything_ he wants, virtually without interruption." Robin said, kicking loose ice across the solid ground.

"Why is that?"

"Well, what does the rest of the planet have that Antarctica _doesn't_?" Robin asked.

Star thought for a moment. Surely the rest of the world had ice in certain places, as well as harsh weather. Sunlight did occur, even if it was not that often, and since she could breathe, there was obviously air. So what was missing…

"_People_." Starfire said, her realization heavy upon her mind. "There are no _people_ here. It is as Raven said: 'devoid of life'."

"Bingo." Robin said. "The governments of Earth have divided up this continent amongst themselves, but there are less than fifty people here at any given time during the year, and it's almost never monitored, save for the growing hole in the O-zone layer at the pole."

"But Earth has a massive global network of satellites orbiting this planet. Would they not have noticed _something_?" Starfire asked, trying to find logic in the matter.

"Yes, they would." Robin confirmed as he walked. "This operation is way too big to go unnoticed for long, which makes me wonder what _else _we're dealing with down here-"

_**WUMPF!**_

Robin had suddenly disappeared from Starfire's sight. "Robin! Where have you gone to?"

It was as if the ground had opened up and eaten Robin alive. Visions of teeth chomping up her friend made Starfire all the more worrisome, but she couldn't see a thing in the mist, even as she ran forward. "_Robin!_ Can you hear me? _Say something!_"

She heard a reply, weak and strangled. "_Nyur nanding non ny nowf!_"

Starfire was confused, but tried to translate from where she stood. "I'm _what?_"

She heard it again. "_Nyur nanding non ny **nowf!**_"

Star caught most of it that time, looking around the place where Robin had last been. "I'm standing on your…_OH!_"

Beneath her, and under her thigh-high boots, was Robin's face, his mouth muffled by her heels, his nose pinched shut. His face was nearly as blue as the ice beneath him. "Robin!"

Starfire back flipped off of Robin's head and quickly scooped him off the ground, his cheeks in his hands. "_I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry**I'mSOsorry**_Robin…are you alright?"

Robin spit out a couple of pieces of ice, and cracked his jaw to one side. "I'm fine, really, I'm OK Star. My face is just…_really_ tender right now."

"But…why did you fall? And how did I not _trip_ over you?" Starfire asked.

"Well, _you_ found _me_…" Robin started, gesturing to his left, "But _I _found a _road_."

Starfire followed his pointed hand. Sure enough, slowly disappearing into the foggy distance was a large road, carved out of the ice. It was about two feet deep, etched into the solid floor, and nearly twenty feet wide with sharp edges for curbs. The ice was flatter and had no slant to it, along with a deeper, clearer blue tint to it.

"We should follow this thing, see where it leads us." Robin said as he stood and straightened himself out. "Question is, which way do we go?"

"I shall try to determine a direct route. Please, wait here a moment!" Starfire instructed before levitating up into the pea-soup-like fog, and vanishing from sight.

Robin whipped out his communicator, tapped it to life, adjusted the scanning protocol, and began sweeping the immediate area for…_anything._ "Intermediate fissures in the ice…Magnetic interference…atmosphere echoes throughout the cavern…no definitive signs of life…inconsistent temperature readings…free-floating energy signatures, never in the same place _twice_…"

Robin didn't know what to think, and his injuries where only hindering his concentration. "This place is a black-out zone. _Nothing _shows up on my scans. It's like we were thrown into a _quasar_ or something! I wish that for just a second we could catch a _break_ or-"

**BEEP!**

Robin snapped his head back down, his eyes intent. "YES! Finally, _something_!"

He followed the direction to which the little arrow on his communicator was pointing, indicating that it had picked up something coming from his right. It flashed a brighter yellow as it got closer to its quarry. Robin followed the tracking signal, talking to himself as he walked.

"It has mass, density, a strong magnetic signature, thick armor plating, and…"

Robin had to recheck his readings, for they told him something quite unusual. "…a _heartbeat_?"

_**SWOOP! SNATCH!**_

Robin was suddenly being carried through the air at high speed. "What the hell-…_Starfire_!"

"This has become a very _precarious_ place to be, Robin!" Starfire said, her face worrisome. "We must hide. _Now!_"

"_Hide_? But where…?"

_**PLOP!**_

Robin found himself standing within large split in the ice, deep enough to conceal his body up to his chin. It was maybe thirty feet from where he had been standing not a second earlier, but his view of the road was slightly hindered now, since the distance had increased the density of the fog.

That, and Starfire was trying to shove his head down into his shoulders. "Starfire, what are you _doing?_"

"_Shhh!_ They _approach_!" Starfire whispered harshly, trying to hide his head.

"'_They_ approach'? What do you mean? Who's come-?"

**_Ker-_THWAP!**

**HURRRRR-_OOOOANNNN!_**

"MOVE IT _ALONG_ YOU INFERIOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL _WORM_!"

Robin finally complied with Starfire's persistent hand. He ducked his head lower, till just his nose and eyes breached the edge. He watched the road, his breathing deep and measured.

Both Titans were able to feel the footsteps of the approaching voices long before they could see who they belonged to. The ground would tremor slightly with their steps, each one equally spaced apart, each followed by a crunching sound.

"This thing sounds like it's _marching_." Robin said, watching the fog for signs of movement.

"_Things._" Starfire whispered, her voice suddenly timid. "_Plural_."

"How many did you see?" Robin asked. But it was unnecessary, for his question was answered a few seconds later.

They were tall; Robin noticed that first. He had to lean backwards in his small shelter to see the tops of their flat heads. The shoulders were wide and barrel-like, their chests tall and artificial looking. They walked in two rows in single file, their colors dark, almost charcoal in appearance. While their arms were thin in comparison to their heavy legs and massive bodies, their forearms were huge and conical in shape, and their hands held what looked like long pipes, slung over their left shoulders.

The colors were different. But their appearances, their voices, and behavior were all too similar to the real thing.

Starfire blinked, recognition grabbing her. "_Atlas?_"

"I guess they _didn't _break the mold when he was built." Robin said cynically. "That or he has a huge family we don't know about."

The marching robots were identical to the foe that had nearly defeated Cyborg about two years prior. These Atlas's were carbon copies, with the exception of their armor hue, and the color of their eyes; they were bright red.

"I count ten, each heavily armed." Robin whispered to Starfire. "Do you see any others?"

No answer. Robin turned around. "Star?"

The look on her face was positively _murderous. _Her fingers began to crush the ledge of ice beneath them, her eyes a fiery green.

"Yes. I can see one more." She said slowly, pointing behind the small platoon of robots.

Robin looked.

**_Ker-_THWAP! **

"I SAID _FASTER _YOU GROTESQUE BEAST OF _BURDEN_!" came another yell.

The eleventh Atlas sat upon the lip of a large container, similar in shape to that of a dump-truck flatbed. The container rolled upon large metal wheels, each as tall as Robin was, with large spikes protruding outwards. The spikes would grind into the ice as they rolled, adding traction and stability to the massive enclosure. The metal of said device was yellow in appearance, but a strange, soft red glow could clearly be seen emanating from within. All told, the entire structure looked as if it weighed more than twenty tons.

The cargo-container was not moving on its own: far from it.

**_Ker-_THWAP! **

"I WILL _BEAT_ YOU TO WITHIN AN _INCH_ OF YOUR MISERABLE LIFE, VILE CREATURE; **_FASTER!_**"

Robin watched in horror as another Thragnal, lashed to the rolling flatbed, was whipped repeatedly with an electrical cat-o-nine-tails. Blue flashes of electricity arched across the already bleeding flesh of the pulling animal, its head low and its mouth panting. Every time the Atlas look-alike struck the back of the alien, it would let out another horrendous moan of agony.

**HURRRRR-_OOOOANNNN!_**

Starfire ground her teeth, her tears hot and heavy upon her cheeks. Her heart felt as if it were being shredded, and her voice was starined.

"It is in _pain…_"

Robin knew what Starfire wanted to do before she did it. "Star, please…try to stay _calm_…"

"You wish for me to stay _calm_ while this…this _violation _takes place?" Starfire hissed, her eyes blazing with a reminder of how dangerous her anger could be.

Robin tried to massage the tension out of the situation. "I would _never_ ask such a thing, because if I did, it would be a direct contradiction of _my_ feelings as well."

He moved closer to her, his eyes still on the convoy. "But as of right now, I _need _this fire, this…_rage _burning within us both…I need it to be tempered. Just for _now_; just until the right time."

Starfire carefully looked over at her partner. She looked him up and down, the pupils of her eyes a molten lime. The sheer power of her malice was enough to make the boy wonder very uneasy, and he wasn't even looking directly at her. Those eyes could dissect him like scalpels, and in more ways than one.

"What do _you_ propose we do?" Starfire asked, her eyes beginning to dim.

Robin looked at her briefly, cracked a relieved smile, and then gave his attention back to the marching giants. "As of right now, it appears that SLADE has a _severe_ advantage on us in terms of sheer force."

**_Ker-_THWAP!**

**NNNUURRRR_-OOOOOAAAN! _**

"His cruelty towards those weaker than himself seems as _typical_ as always." Starfire said, her face hateful as she continued to watch.

"He has weaponry, a stronger, more powerful set of minions," Robin surmised, looking at the Atlas replicas, "And he is clearly very organized."

"And this leaves our team with _what?_" Starfire asked.

Robin's eyes narrowed and his smile grew. "It may sound _cheesy_, but since SLADE doesn't know we're here, or, at best, _thinks_ we are out of commission, we have the element of _surprise_."

"'Surprise' does not sound like any processed dairy product that I am familiar with," Starfire said, a little confused, "But it does appear that we have a _tactical_ advantage over SLADES defenses."

Starfire watched quietly as the armored group marched from view, their massive, clunking bodies and glowing cargo disappearing into the artificial fog. After a time, even the sound of the whip and the pitiful howls of the creature were beyond her range of hearing.

It was just as well; Starfire's ears could only take so much punishment.

She sat down in the crevice of ice. "What is our next move?"

Robin stood, pushed his way back onto level ground, and began walking. Surprised, Starfire quickly joined him, trying to catch up. His exit had been so sudden and her reaction so quick that, as soon as she stood upon the ice again, she slipped and fell upon her rump.

She didn't loose a beat though. "_Robin!_ To where do you go?"

Robin was now standing in the middle of the carved road once more, his feet firmly planted in tow of the large foot-prints left behind by the marching Adonis's. His head was down and his arms were crossed. He had the posture of a man with far too much weighing down his mind.

Starfire had a hard time understanding why he was tapping his foot. "Are you alright Robin?"

"Hmm?" Robin said, never moving his head.

"I asked if everything was well with you." Star said as she approached him, rubbing the soreness from her curved behind. "You look as if something be-_sides _the obvious is bothering you."

Robin kicked a small slab of ice over with his heavy metal boot, and watched as it skittered in the other direction down the road. His hand came to his chin, and he again looked puzzled. "Star?"

"Yes?"

"Does this material look familiar to you?" Robin said slowly.

"What materi-?" but Starfire didn't get to finish her question.

For it was then that she noticed the fiery red glow that came from the ice before her.

"Oh."

It was plasma-like in texture. It rested upon the ground like so much discarded red gelatin, scattered across the ruptured ice here and there, clumped in some places and in others flattened by the rolling wheels of the giant cargo container.

"It looks as if it fell from their transport." Starfire guessed, bending down for a closer inspection, her nose wrinkled. "Though _what_ it is, I am uncertain."

She looked back to her leader. "Should you not collect a sample, so as to determine the chemical structure of this mass?"

Robin shook his head slowly, but reached into his utility belt, and produced a small beaker from one of the many compartments. It was round and made of glass, and barely weighed an ounce.

Starfire was a bit confused when he handed it to her. "You'll have to scoop up a sample."

"_What_? Why?" Star asked.

"Because if this stuff is what I _think _it is, I can't touch it with my bare hands." He said warily. "Nor can any _other_ human."

Starfire quickly scooped up several clumps of the glowing, crimson material, and placed them in the small vial. The ice continued to glow with the chemical light, and the vial began to glow in turn.

Starfire noticed something else as well; specifically, how warm her fingers were becoming.

"This material is _radioactive_?" She asked, her hands now pulsing with a soft red shine.

"Yes, it is." Robin said, looking at her hands. "You are _immune_ to radiation, right?"

"Correct. This material cannot hurt me." Starfire confirmed, flexing her fingers in the foggy air.

"Humans aren't, though." Robin said, his mind beginning to put more puzzle pieces together. "Which is why _I _only used the _refined_ material."

"Yes, that would make sen-" but Star had caught his Freudian slip. "Wait: _you _only use the _refined_ material?"

Robin didn't say anything else. He didn't need to. He could see the gears clicking away in Starfire's beautiful head, slowly but surely raising the sun on her dawning understanding.

She looked at her injured lover, her shock evident. "You mean…but it is not _possible_ -"

Robin gave a wry smile, examining the glowing material closely.

"Who knew you could find _Xinothium_ in Antarctica?"


	15. Armada

_Maybe not the best chapter I've written so far, but certainly one of the most detailed. I think a great deal will be explained here, but not too much. (I can't let predictability become an issue, now can I?) I do apologize for how long I wait to update these chapters, but I do hope to finish before the spring is out. My parents kid me and tell me that if I spent half as much time on my studying as I did on this, I'd be an ivy-leaguer. But I told them that I am not out to impress, but mearly to write. I hope this chapters length is satisfactory, though I should warn you that there are some violent implications within. But for the sake of creative integrity, I will let you discover them on your own. Please, read, review, and enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I'm a huge X-Men fan as well, but I don't own them any more than I own any of these characters. _

**Chap. 15: Armada**

"Xinothium." Cyborg said, his face glum. "An entire _vein_ of the stuff runs beneath the complex; over six thousand square yards of it." (CRACKLE-SNAP)

"This just keeps getting _better_ and **_better_**, doesn't it?" BeastBoy cracked.

"Will you two keep it _quiet_? They might _hear _us!" Raven hushed.

BeastBoy peered around the corner of the large open doorway. His back was to the large open metal frame of the entrance, and his eyes strained to look to his rear without exposing his head. The dim light of the hallway did not help his attempt much either.

"I don't think anything heard us." the changeling whispered. "I haven't seen one of those search-drone do-hicky's in half an hour."

"So much the better," Raven said, putting the large wrench in her hands to one side. "This is a _pathetic_ weapon anyway. How much longer will this take?"

"It will take as long as it _takes._" Cyborg said, his left eye enlarged for the microscopic procedures which he was performing on his waist. "I'm not as familiar with this tech, so it'll be a _while_ before I get this right." (SNAPSNAP)

"I thought Brother Blood designed all his new circuitry based on your schematics." Raven said, shielding her eyes from the blue sparks flying in every direction in the small workshop. "Shouldn't this be second nature to you?"

"_Brother Blood _did, yes. But this stuff is WAY beyond anything that _hack_ could have designed on his own." Cyborg said, looking at Raven briefly with his severely enlarged red eye. "It's almost as if he had help."

"Well since when does SLADE _share_?" BeastBoy asked from across the room.

"I'm not so sure he did." Cyborg said, an air of foreboding in his voice. "And I'm not too proud to be using this guy's technology to repair myself, either." (SIZZLE-POP)

"Did you fix your legs?" BeastBoy asked, never turning around.

"My legs were never _broken_. The circuitry that allowed me to control them was severed in the crash." Cy said as he cranked a large port open on the outside of his knee joint. He popped it out of its tube and laid it upon the steel table on which he sat. "If I can just repair these muscle subroutine chips, I should be in business. Then we can find out if what those other Atlas's said about all that Xinothium was true."

Raven slung the large red wrench over her left shoulder and silently walked the ten foot distance between her and BeastBoy. The bright flashes of electrically charged light were partially hidden by a large pile of scrap that had been placed in the middle of the small workshop. She took her position next to BB, her back to the on the inside of the door.

"Atlas doesn't run on Xinothium, so far as we know. So why would they be harvesting the stuff?" BeastBoy wondered aloud.

"You remember Robin's 'Red X' suit?" Raven said.

"Yeah. But Cy said the stuff was _way_ too unstable to be used safely, right?" BB asked, craning his neck around to look at her in the dim room.

"That doesn't mean SLADE can't refine it for his own purposes. He _knew_ Robin was in the suit. Maybe he knew about the _technology_ of it as well." Raven said, rubbing her injured head.

"So what? He's gonna make a bunch of red-goo guns to gunk-up the world?" BeastBoy asked.

"Not exactly." Cyborg said from the other side of the scrap pile. "Xinothium is an unstable element, with awesome power. (SPARKLE-SNAP) The U.S. government and Russia tried harnessing it for new-aged fission reactors, but it proved too unstable for use in America."

"But Russia _didn't_?" Raven asked.

"Red Star owes a great deal of his powers to Dr. Chang and his experimentation with the element. They nearly exhausted their supply (KRA-KRAK) tryin' it out on the boy." Cy explained.

"You think _Chang_ is helping SLADE?" BeastBoy asked, his eyebrow arched. He took another quick look down the winding hallway, found it devoid of anything moving, and looked back to his friends.

"He's probably not the only scientist who knows how to manipulate Xinothium," Raven said, tapping the wrench on the ground. "But if _not _him, then who?"

"Good question. (WHIR-_CRANK_) And I think I know how to find out." Cyborg said, a second before a low humming began, followed by the loud slap of his clapping hands. "_YES! _Circuitry is operative!"

"You're fixed?" BeastBoy asked.

Cyborg walked towards his friends for the first time in days. He flexed his large cybernetic legs, enjoying the sound of the pistons and other mechanical parts. His impressive seven and one-half foot tall self nearly filled the wide doorway, as did his smile. "It's just a quick-fix. So long as nothing strenuous happens to my lower sub-processor, I _should_ be fine for a few days."

"Good, 'cause I was gettin' tired of cartin' you everywhere." BeastBoy said with a grin.

"Oh, please! At least you could _walk_!" Cyborg protested.

"You have any idea how long my _spine_ is now? I never should have used the Anaconda to lower you down here." BeastBoy said with a frown.

"Maybe ya shouldn't have, you almost broke my neck when you dropped me on my head!" Cyborg rebutted, poking BeastBoy in the chest.

"As if it would have damaged anything _valuable_!" BeastBoy replied with a sneer.

"All **RIGHT! **That's _ENOUGH!_" Raven almost shouted, pointing the large wrench at her male companions. "I don't care if my powers _are_ malfunctioning; if you two don't knock-off the testosterone fest, I'll put you _both _in traction, **_understood_**?"

Both Titans shut their traps and stood at attention; mother had spoken.

"Better. Now, can we get _moving_, please? I'd rather not be here in case we run into another Atlas copy-cat." Raven asked, slightly more composed.

"We should head right. I think we'll find some answers in that direction." BB said.

"And what makes you so sure?" Cyborg asked.

"I think we should follow the pulsing red lights." BeastBoy said.

"What pulsing red-?"

**_TOOM-_FLASH!**

"Oh."

Sure enough, traveling through interlocked lights along the walls of the tall corridor, was a pulse of light. Thirty seconds would go by, and another pulse would surge down the wall, to disappear into shadowed passageway.

"What do you think? Energy relays?" Raven asked Cyborg.

Cy walked across the hall and placed his hand upon the electrical conduit trough the light traveled. "I think I saw something like this when we infiltrated SLADE'S first hideout. They webbed outwards into the entire complex."

BeastBoy, his eyes and ears open, joined his friends across the hall from the small workshop. "Well, at least they're not cameras. Otherwise we'd be swamped with bad guys' right about now."

**_TOOM-_FLASH!**

"That doesn't mean they aren't important, or potentially dangerous to us." Raven said, pulling her hood and cloak tighter over her body. "I think we should move."

"Agreed. Lets just stay low and quiet, alright ya'll?" Cyborg asked a he began to move briskly down the hall.

BeastBoy and Raven watched as their friend quickly disappeared into the darkness of the corridor. Raven quirked an eyebrow. "He's happy to be back on his feet, isn't he?"

"Showoff." BeastBoy said, just before his body melted into the shape of an ostrich. _'Hop on.' _

Normally, Raven wouldn't have accepted a ride from someone if she was able to walk on her own. But time was a factor now, and so was speed. "Just don't _drop_ me, got it?"

As soon as she had placed her shapely legs over BeastBoy's feathered shoulders, they were off. BB's toenails clicked upon the hard cement floors, and his long neck swayed back and forth as he ran. The green skin on his neck would flash into clarity as another pulse traveled along the wall next to them. She held on firmly with one hand, and used the other to keep her hood over her head, lest the wind blow if off.

'_This place is HUGE.' _BeastBoy said to Raven as he ran. _'How did SLADE put all this together without anyone noticing?' _

**_TOOM-_FLASH!**

'_I'm not sure, but it probably has to do with why my powers aren't functioning.' _Raven replied as she bounced along. _'I can sense so much movement in this facility, but all of it seems sterile.' _

'_You mean dead?' _BeastBoy asked as he rounded a corner.

'_The only signs of life that I was able to detect when we snuck in here were those huge creatures we saw near the ore dump at the bottom of the facility. I don't think there are any other living things down here.' _Raven said.

'_Those things were from Tameran! I remember them from when we visited. They were hard to mimic.' _BeastBoy said as he pressed on. _'Like a cross between and elephant and a tape-worm.'_

'_Cheap, powerful beasts of burden.' _Raven said with an angry look. _'SLADE has EVERYTHING worked out down here, including his own energy resources.' _

'_You don't think that that one Atlas was telling the truth do you?' _BB asked. _'How could so much Xinothium exist down here?' _

'_It's remote, barren, and completely un-tapped.' _Raven said, watching another bolt of light flash at her side. _'You can often strike oil in the least hospitable places. Who KNOWS what SLADE could find on a continent with so much square mileage.' _

'_But I don't get it: if he blows this place **and** himself up, what good will that do him?' _BeastBoy asked. _'He must **know** the stuff is unstable. Sure he's a whack-job, but he's not stupid.' _

'_You're right, it doesn't make sense.' _Raven agreed. _'There are a lot of things that don't add up besides that.'_

**_TOOM-_FLASH!**

'_Such as?' _BB asked as he glanced back at his dark passenger.

'_Why steal all those creatures? Why put in all the effort? What is this place for? Why did he construct all those Atlas's? And why the **heck** was Jinx here to begin with?' _Raven asked in a rapid fire fashion.

'_That about covers all the unknowns.' _BB responded, still trying to follow all her questions in his head. _'I just hope we find out what's going on before SLADE gets **antsy**.' _

After about two minutes of galloping down and endless stretch of passageway, BeastBoy could finally make out some light. It was still far away and faint, but he knew that he was going in the right direction.

That is, until a large hand reached from out of nowhere and grabbed him around the top of his neck.

"HeeEEE-_kup!_" BeastBoy the Ostrich said as his air was cut off.

Raven was slightly alarmed at the sudden stop. "What the _heck_ do you think you're-?"

"_SHHHH! _Shut-_up,_ you two!" came a hushed voice.

"_Cyborg_! What's the big idea? You almost CHOKED me to-"

"Will you keep your mouth _shut_ and stay low?" Cyborg said as he pulled both of his friends into an alcove behind a steel I-beam.

"What is it? What did you see?" Raven asked quietly.

Cyborg held his smaller companions in his wide lap, and placed his large hands over their mouths to prevent further noise. "Just _wait._"

The three Titans were about fifteen feet from another doorway similar to the one they had just left behind, the one exception being that this one held an eerie gray-white glow. The trio could make out large shadows moving back and forth across the light, each one stretched out to abnormal lengths because of the lights intensity. The concrete floor vibrated slightly, presumably from the footfalls of whoever owned the shadows.

"Vey book timikar to duh ubber toenots." BeastBoy mumbled.

"Beg pardon?" Cyborg asked, removing his hand.

"_Here they come_!" Raven whispered harshly.

Cyborg huddled closer to the wall, his large mass hidden in the shadows. He watched with his peripheral vision as six large figures approached.

**TUM-tum TUM-tum TUM-tum…**

The heavy footsteps caused the stone floor to rattle and shake. Cyborg could feel his metal chasse clink and clank as the waves of vibrations moved through his body. His breathing was heavy and his mind alert, and did what he could to keep himself from crushing his friends.

These Atlas's were copies as well. Their bodies were the same shape and size as the one Cyborg had fought a few years earlier. But unlike the copies he had seen outside of the massive complex, these were slightly…altered. Their armor was heavier and shaped oddly, as if it were hammered into a streamline design. The composition of the armor seemed denser than but not as strong as regular steel. It almost appeared to be lead. The eyes held the dull red glow of smoldering embers, and their mouths did not move. The robots moved with the mechanical precision of droids; every movement the same, every gesture calculated, every action devoid of emotion.

These machines were not like Atlas at all. _'What ARE these things? And what does SLADE need them for?' _Cyborg thought.

The six robots marched away down the hall, their arms swinging back and forth like huge pendulums, before leaving Cyborgs sight.

"Close call." BeastBoy said.

"_Too_ close. I doubt we'll be able to remain hidden for much longer." Raven said, standing and walking towards the opening of fluorescent light. "I'm surprised they didn't detect us just now, since we were right in front of them."

"Well, those pulses of light lead right into that room. I think we should start there." BeastBoy said, pointing to the walls again. "It's not like we have any other leads."

"Then lets make this quick. I'm worried about Rob and Star." Cyborg said, his eyes still looking towards the place where the robots were last seen. "Especially with a bunch of _those_ things walking around."

"Uh, Cyborg?" Raven asked as she entered the large room.

"Yea Raven?"

"Those things may be the _least _of our problems." Raven said, her voice uncharacteristically alarmed.

BeastBoy entered the doorway, and his ears automatically drooped to the sides of BeastBoy's head. "Aw, _nuts_…"

The screens were huge; Cyborg was first amazed by that. The relatively small room was filled screens that were each fifty inches or more across, suspended on long, robotic support arms. The screens were flat and hexagonal in shape, but they held a curious red tint to them that was unfamiliar. All twenty of them displayed different images in real time, some in color and others in black & white. Large control panels spread out beneath the huge displays, the brightly lit buttons and switches giving off an impressive blue glow, a sharp contrast to that of the crimson screens.

Interesting as the abundance of technology was, what concerned Cyborg had more to do with what was displayed upon the multitude of screens above and around his head.

"SLADE has been a busy boy." Cyborg said, tapping his fingers nervously on his armored bicep.

BeastBoys face looked positively ghostly in the light from the monitors. "_Dude…_there's _hundreds _of 'um."

"Probably more." Raven said, removing her hood to get a better look.

Displayed across the many screens in the small room were pictures of Atlas; and about ten _thousand_ of his look-alikes.

"This has got to be some kind of a _joke_." BeastBoy said shakily, resting his hands upon the control boards. "Only I'm not _laughing_."

Raven studied the various pictures, each one similar in that it contained several hundred robots, all of them darker replicas of the supposedly indestructible robot. The enclosures in which they stood seemed fairly large and open, as if all of the Atlas's were standing in a football field. The monitors themselves cut off most the remaining faces, probably because the cameras were not completely focused out. Each robot was standing at attention, unmoving, as if waiting for a command. The eyes all held the same red glow, staring straight into the camera lenses.

For all Raven knew right then, they could have been looking right _at_ her. "Now _this _is _creepy_."

"BeastBoy, can you pull up any data on these things?" Cyborg asked as he approached the controls.

BeastBoy gave him the mother of all confused stares. "You're _kidding_, right?"

"Never mind," Cyborg said, approaching an outlet. "I'll do it. Raven, can I borrow your wrench?"

With a flick of his fingers, Cyborg opened the protective armored plate upon the sternum of his chest, and pulled out a long, silver wire. At one end was a U.S.B. port, and after jacking open a locked clamp upon the computer control pad with the large wrench, he interfaced it directly with the computer.

"Are you sure that's safe, buddy?" BeastBoy asked.

"Yea, not a prob, man." Cyborg said. "This shouldn't take more than a minute."

The screens flickered for a second, and then Cyborgs arms fell to his sides. A whirring sound could be head from his head as the silver wire began to glow a soft gray.

"No _wonder_ the man has every Game-Station game on the planet." BeastBoy said. "He can download anything he wants."

"And yet a little computer virus from you caused him to completely short circuit and eat half a cities block worth of aluminum." Raven wondered aloud. "Interesting."

"/INTERFACE COMPLETE. PROCESSING DATA REQUEST/"

The male voice that came from Cyborgs' mouth startled the other two titans, for it was not Cyborgs voice. It was resonate and harsh, with an undertone of static interference. Cyborgs vocal chords were not behaving as they were programmed to.

"Cyborg?" BeastBoy asked.

"/PLEASE STATE DATA INFERENCE/"

Raven approached her friend, standing as straight as a rail on the dirty stone floor. She studied the appearance and stance of the bionic bruiser, her hand under her chin.

"Strange. It's like Cyborg is _translating_ the computers internal memory."

"What makes you say that?" BeastBoy asked, waving a hand in front of Cyborgs face, trying to illicit a response to his movements.

"Look at his left eye." Raven said.

BeastBoy looked, and raised an eyebrow at what he saw. "All I see are _numbers_."

A series of zero's and ones were passing across Cyborgs electronic eye at incredible speed. They would be grouped in small arrangements, then a space would appear, and then the whole process would start over again.

"It's _binary_, I think." Raven speculated. "Cyborg must be reading the data of the computer as it passes through his processor and higher modem functions."

"Then why does he sound like the 'Space Odyssey' guy from that old Sci-Fi movie?" BeastBoy said, his pupils trying to follow the numbers as they flew across his best friends' red retina.

"Why don't you _ask_ him?" Raven offered.

"Oh, _no_! Computers and I don't get along." BeastBoy protested, his panicked face almost comical in the dim red glow. "This one's _all_ yours."

Raven looked at her friend and spoke, not entirely sure what to say. "Cyborg?"

"/PLEASE STATE DATA INFERENCE/"

'_This may be trickier than I thought.'_ Raven said to herself. She tried again. "To whom am I speaking?"

"/SLADE OPERATIONS PRIMARY MAINFRAME: CONTROL GRID 22C/"

"How am I talking to you like this? What has happened to my friend?" Raven asked.

"/UNIT _CYBORG_ CONTAINS INSUFFICIENT PROCESSING CAPABILITIES. MAIN PROCESSING TERMINAL IS TRANSLATING REQUESTS/" Said the computerized voice.

"_Psst! _Raven!" BeastBoy whispered. "Ask it about all those Atlas's on the screens!"

"Hold _on_!" Raven whispered back, before turning to the computer again. "What is your designation?"

"/C.G.C. /" Cyborg said.

"Alright. C.G.C., what is being displayed here?" Raven pointed.

"/ATLAS INFANTRY UNITS/" 

"_Infantry?_" Raven said quietly before speaking aloud again. "C.G.C, what is the primary function of these machines?"

"/INFANTRY UNITS COMISSIONED AS SECONDARY GROUND WEAPONRY. DEPLOYMENT PROCEDURES WILL COMMENCE SHORTLY AFTER ARRIVAL AT PRIMARY CONTINENTAL TARGETS/" Cyborg said flatly.

"Primary _what?_" BeastBoy said, slightly alarmed.

"C.G.C., can you display information rosters?" Raven asked.

As soon as she said those words, the multiple screens went blank. Red letters appeared on each, reading 'State query' followed by a colon sign. It looked as if the screens were waiting for her request.

"_Dude. _This thing is like a giant interactive CD-ROM or something." BeastBoy marveled. "I wonder how much _memory_ this thing has."

"/OVERALL MAINFRAME STORAGE IS 1,500,000 Terabytes/" the computer answered.

"Oh."

"C.G.C., display roster of SLADE weaponry." Raven asked, her hands on her hips as she watched the screens.

Scrolls of information began playing across the screens. Cyborg began speaking as new bullet-points were introduced, his voice still mechanical and emotionless.

"/ATLAS INFANTRY UNITS: 45,000/"

"/ATLAS HEAVY ARTILLERY UNITS: 15,000/"

"/MOBILE GROUND ASSAULT UNITS: 10,000/"

"/SLADE MINION SHOCK UNITS: 10,000/"

"/TRANSPORT SUBMERSIBLES-POST PRODUCTION ESTIMATES: 100/"

"/REFINED XINOTHIUM ORE DISRUPTORS: 40,000-PRODUCTION INCOMPLETE/"

"/UNREFINED XINOTHIUM ORE DETONATORS: 100,000-PRODUCTION INCOMPLETE/" 

"/HOWITZER PLASMA PLATFORMS: 2,500/" 

"/AERIAL ASSAULT VEHICLES…/"

"_Whoa-whoa-whoa_, SLADE has a freakin' _army?_" BeastBoy said, his eyes large enough to read the lettering that reflected off of them.

"It would appear so." Raven said, none too happy with what she was hearing. "And it would explain why Jinx's ship was so _messed up_ on the inside when we found her."

"He fried her controls with a Xinothium weapon!" BB exclaimed. "He must have done it when she tried to _escape_!"

"C.G.C.," Raven said, her questions a little clearer in her head now. "When will production be complete on these weapons?"

"/ESTIMATES PREDICT FULL PRODUCTION COMPLETION IN T-MINUS 36 HOURS, 41 MINUTES/"

"Well, at least we've got some time." BeastBoy said as he watched the information play before his eyes. "C.G.C., how long has production been in progress?"

"/PLEASE SPECIFY/"

"Uhh…how long has this place _been _here?" BeastBoy tried.

"/CONSTRUCTION ON PRIMARY OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTER BEGAN 13 MONTHS PRIOR TO FIRST ACQUISITION OF RAW MATERIALS AND KEY PERSONEL. INITIAL CONSTRUCTION WAS COMPLETED 7 MONTHS POST ACQUISITION OF NECESSARY MISSION SPECIALISTS. OPERATIONS BEGAN THREE MONTHS AFTER SABOTAGE WAS DETECTED IN SECONDARY WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT FACILITY. IN TOTAL: 23 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 6 DAYS/" Cyborg said, not missing a beat.

"Can you provide a topographical display of the facility?" Raven asked.

Four of the primary screens began displaying three-dimensional pictures. The pictures began developing slowly, one layer at a time, and then faster and faster. It was as if an invisible spider were weaving an intricate blue-print before the two teens, each part more complex than the next.

The impressive dome, which had been prevalent upon their decent into the huge chamber, led downwards into systems of strategically placed tunnels, passageways, assembly areas, power-transformers, and several underground facilities. Surrounding the dome, out in the massive cavern, were several small towers, all hidden from view in the dense fog that perforated the area. What _their_ purposewas, neither titan could tell.

But Raven noticed something interesting. "They all converge around a huge central cavity in the middle of the facility. It runs from nearly top to bottom, with a large, circular opening at the top."

BeastBoy studied the green topographic design. "Just how big _is_ this place? And where the heck is SLADE?"

"/OPERATIONS CENTER IS APPROXIMATELY 950 FEET TALL BY 700 FEET WIDE. CONTAINS 360,000 USABLE SQUARE FEET, 100,000 SQUARE FEET USABLE DOCK SPACE, 10,000 SQUARE FEET STORAGE SPACE. CENTRAL FUSION REACTOR GENERATES 22,000 GIGA-WATTS PER HOUR. XINOTHIUM ENERGY PLANT AT 76 PERCENT CAPACITY AND RISING/" Cyborg informed.

Raven and BeastBoy looked at each other. A bunch of puzzle pieces were falling into place. Problem was, the developing picture was not a pretty one.

"This guy has been _workin'_ since he ditched us after we fought your dad." BB said. "And we haven't noticed a _thing_."

"Until now." Raven said as she turned back to the screens. "C.G.C., you mentioned a _sabotage_ attempt?"

"/CORRECT/"

"Display files on attempted sabotage of secondary weapons facility." Raven commanded.

Once again, the screens shifted to display new data. Upon the screen now was a large, fully automated warehouse-like building, filled with rows of conveyer-belts and large assembly machines. Each worked in conjunction with the other, a ballet of mechanical precision and speed. They seemed to be assembling large pieces of equipment, possibly mobile assault vehicles. The machines hummed as they worked, and a large clock kept track of the time in the bottom right-hand corner of the screens. Everything seemed to be working smoothly.

That is, until a large explosion ripped several of the machines apart.

**PUH_-BOOOOM! _**

"Whoa!" BeastBoy said, flinching at the televised blast.

A second later, a small, agile creature came into view. She sprinted through the smoke and dodged several individual laser turrets that attempted to shoot her as she ran through the room. There seemed to be nothing but smoke and fire filling the security cameras lens.

But the flash of pink hair was unmistakable. "Look at Jinx _go_."

"So, she _did _manage to do _some_ damage," Raven said quietly. "But she must have been captured at some point."

As if on cue, three large Atlas droids marched into the partially destroyed assembly room. They overtook Jinx in the camera shot, her face livid with determination. She through her charms at the large robots only to have them break upon their thick armor as magical waves would upon a stone shore. In a second or two, she was pinned against a wall.

Before the screens went blank, the pair saw witnessed one of the Atlas's grab Jinx by her neck, and hoist her off of the damaged metal floor. It struck her in the face with its huge hand. There was a sickening _CRACK._

Then nothing.

**_KER-KER-_SNAP! CLANG!**

Raven and BeastBoy looked down when they heard the sharp noise. Raven could see Cyborgs right hand, still wrapped around the wrench she had handed him. The tempered steel handle had been crushed like a coke can, and the head of the wrench had fallen away when the metal had been severed in Cyborgs powerful vice-grip. It clattered across the stone floor.

"I thought you said Cy was doing what the _computer_ wanted." BeastBoy said, picking up the heavy wrench head.

"He can still _see_ everything the computer is showing us." Raven said, placing her hand on Cyborgs smooth metal shoulder, stroking it. "And he doesn't like what he's seeing."

BeastBoy got the gist of what Raven was saying, and felt something turn in his gut. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable in the small room, the screens like twenty huge eye-balls looking at him.

This was _not_ a good place to be, Titan or otherwise. "We need to get moving." BeastBoy said.

"We're not through here yet." Raven said. "There's something _missing _here, something that should have been on that tape."

"Seemed pretty thorough to me," BeastBoy said glumly, folding his arms. "Jinx never had a _chance_."

"But why did the tape cut out?" Raven asked. "Why didn't they show what happened to her?"

BeastBoy raised his finger as if to respond, frowned, and drooped his finger down once more. "I got nothin'."

"C.G.C., what happened to the saboteur displayed here?" Raven asked her stoic friend.

"/THE SABOTEUR WAS DETAINED IN A SECURE LOCATION WITH PRISONER ZERO ONE/"

"So what happened to Jinx in this 'secure location'? And _who_ is prisoner Zero One?" BeastBoy asked, using his fingers as quotes.

_Everything _in the room went dark; the screens, control panels, all ambient light fixtures, black. For a moment, the only light in the room was the glowing red of Cyborgs left eye. It illuminated the fog from Raven and BeastBoy's breathe as they breathed slowly in the cold room. A second after that, the screens sprung back to life, with a message in cryptic red font playing across each one.

Cyborgs voice had also changed: it went from strange to down-right creepy.

"/_WARNING! WARNING! _UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY! LEVEL 1 CLEARANCE REQUIRED! SPECIAL PROJECTS FILE UNAVAILABLE! PLEASE PROVIDE PROPER D.N.A. SEQUENCE! _WARNING! WARNING!_ /"

Cyborg kept repeating the message in a powerful baritone, the sound echoing in the small confines of the control station. BeastBoy had to cover his sensitive ears, his eyes bugging out of his head.

"_Make it STOP!" _he yelled over the din.

Raven looked from screen to screen, the sudden outburst from the computer taking her off guard. She frantically looked over the control panel, trying to find a sever mechanism, and found nothing. She pushed buttons and flipped switches, but nothing could stop Cyborg from his rant.

"/_WARNING! WARNING! _UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY! LEVEL 1 CLEARANCE REQUIRED! SPECIAL PROJECTS FILE UNAVAILABLE! PLEASE PROVIDE PROPER D.N.A. SEQUENCE! _WARNING! WARNING!_ /"

BeastBoy tried to help. But his method was a little more eccentric.

"_Shutup-Shutup-**Shutup!**" _BeastBoy yelled, banging his fists on the multiple key-boards.

"_BeastBoy_!" Raven yelled as she grabbed a hold of the cable connecting Cyborg to the computer. "Knock it _off_ and give me a _hand_!"

Both Titans yanked on the heavy silver cord that was feeding Cyborg commands from the computer. They strained and jerked but nothing would dislodge the wire from its connection point.

"_It won't budge!_ The system has him locked in!" Raven said as she braced her strong legs against the metal display panel.

"/_WARNING! WARNING! _UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY! LEVEL 1 CLEARANCE REQUIRED! SPECIAL PROJECTS FILE UNAVAILABLE! PLEASE PROVIDE PROPER D.N.A. SEQUENCE! _WARNING! WARNING!_ /"

"_Nuts_ to _this_!" BeastBoy said a second before he morphed. _'Raven, stand clear!' _

Raven jumped back as a seven-foot-tall, three-hundred pound Raptor appeared across from her. The large dinosaur reared back, braced itself with its long tail, and bit, as hard as it could, into the wire.

**_KERRRR-_ZAP! _POOOF! _**

Once more the room went dark. Raven had been pushed back when the electrical flow had been disconnected, and a large bolt of electricity had arched between Cyborg and the computer console. She had to wave her hand in front of her nose. Something was burning in the small room, and the smell was horrible.

But at least the computer was silent again. "Oh, _man…_"

"Cyborg?"

"_Raven_?"

Cyborg bent towards his teammate and helped her up. The silver cord was still dangling from his chest plate, the frayed end of which still spewing sparks. Cyborg began to slowly retract the wire back into its compartment.

"What happened to you?"

"This stupid computer has an overly aggressive data-transfer system. I lost control of my higher functions when I linked up with the hard-drive." Cyborg said, examining the wire in his hand with a concerned eye. "There was some _serious_ juice going through this thing, wasn't there?"

"_Yeah. _(COUGH) You're tellin' _me._"

"BeastBoy!" Raven exclaimed.

Both titans ran to their friend, crumpled in a heap, halfway across the room. He was sitting on his head, his legs doubled over his shoulders as if he were almost through a somersault. His hair was smoking, with tiny static charges fizzling all over his uniform.

"That explains the _smell_." Cyborg said.

"BeastBoy, are you _alright?_" Raven asked as she helped him up, her voice thick with concern.

"Did you order _original recipe_ or _extra crispy_?" BeastBoy asked with a slow grin. He licked two fingers and used them to put out a small flame on the tip of one of his ears.

Cyborg gave a toothy smile and clapped his friend on the back. "He's _OK_, Raven."

Raven sighed wearily and gave BB a frustrated jab in the shoulder. "Is your brain _decorative_? Or do you actually _use _it from time to time?"

"Hey, it _worked_, didn't it?" BeastBoy said, rubbing his arms. "It felt like an electrical route-canal, but it _worked_, right?"

Raven rolled her eyes and looked at Cyborg. "Were you able to read anything else?"

"BB cut my connection before I could launch a hacking program." Cy said, gazing back at the silent computer. "Probably just as well, though. I was havin' a hard time understanding all the data that was being filtered through me."

"Whaddaya mean?" BeastBoy asked as he pulled long piece of wire out of his mouth. "I thought there was _no_ computer you couldn't tackle."

"I could read everything that _thing_ threw at me." Cyborg said defensively. "But some of it just didn't make any _sense_."

"Such as?" Raven asked.

"According to the mainframe, this complex is much larger and much more intricate in design and function than we originally thought when we first saw it. SLADE has the entire place under constant surveillance and is complete control of _everything_ in this facility." Cy explained. "But the _time-frame_ doesn't add up."

"You don't think he's been down here for the past two years?" Raven asked.

"No, that's very possible. I lost my tracking signal link to him after we sent your father back down the hell-hole." Cyborg said, attempting to restart the work station. "What I'm saying is that SLADE could not have _done _all of this, on his _own_, in two years."

"Er_go_?"

"SLADE had _help_." Cyborg told Raven. "And I think I know from _whom_."

"Do you guys _hear_ that?" BB interjected.

All three titans silenced. Cyborg ceased his typing and Raven slowly lowered her hood, being as quiet as possible. Aside from the slow retracting sound coming from Cyborgs internal cable motor, there was no noise in the small room.

Raven heard it first. "Tapping?"

Cyborg listened again, moving a little closer to the doorway. "It sounds like…_boots_."

"Lined with metal soles." BeastBoy said. Again he listened closely.

_Taptap-taptap-taptap…_

It hit the titans like a ton of bricks, all three screaming their realizations in their minds.

'_**SLADE!' **_

**_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_**

"Robin, are you _sure _this is the right way?" Starfire asked.

"The power flux was this way, I'm _positive._" Robin said.

Starfire frowned at Robin's hastiness, but continued to run along side him nonetheless. The corridor curved off to their left, the lights casting brief shadows over their bodies, only to disappear a moment later as they ran. The harsh clapping of their feet echoed horribly in the concrete tunnel, and the ghostly look upon Robin's face made her even more uneasy.

"I do not believe we should be so _hasty._" Starfire said as she flew. "It is a wonder we were not _caught_ when we first approached the structure."

"Those stupid drones never saw us coming. We slipped in without incident. We were even able to acquire _floor-plans_ for this sector without setting off an alarm." Robin explained. "Why do you sound so apprehensive all of a sudden?"

"I am not sure. It feels as though we should have been challenged by something…more _difficult _by now, does it not?" Starfire said, one eyebrow raised in skepticism.

Robin considered that. Sneaking into such a heavily guarded facility had been no easy task, but all the same, Starfire had a point. He was far more accustomed to overly-elaborate security systems and dangerous traps standing in his way, especially this far into enemy territory. But so far as he could tell, nothing even _hinted_ at a booby trap or an ambush. It had been relatively quiet.

Robin ran faster. His feet were moving almost as fast as his heart. "You've got a point. We need to find some kind of a terminal, so we can access some new information."

Starfire pulled a small piece of paper from under her waist-band and began reading. "There should be an auxiliary information workstation about one-hundred and fifty meters ahead, assuming that I am reading this correctly."

Robin poured on the speed, Starfire close at his side, as they rounded another corner. The hallways and corridors were beginning to blend together, each one looking like the last. How _anyone _could find their way around such a place was impossible to say.

What was even _stranger_, however, was how each hallway through which the titans traveled, was completely _empty_.

'_This doesn't smell right.' _Robin said, his eyes switching back and forth as he ran. _'This place is WAY too-"_

"Straight ahead!" Starfire informed, shaking Robin from his revere.

The half circle of light was 25 feet away; the small pulses of red light were converging on it. Robin could feel the heat from the electrical equipment, just before he stepped into that pool of light…

When suddenly… "**_NOW!"_**

_**BAM!**_

**CLANG!**

"What the _hell_…?"

"EEEP!"

"_LOOK OUT!"_

_CRUNCH!_

Starfire's face was suddenly being forced into the concrete floor, her nose flattened against the stone. Something very heavy and thick was sitting upon her back, pinning her down. What it was she couldn't tell, but it seemed alive; it was breathing hard and desperately needed a bath. It smelled vaguely like burnt hair and fake meat…

"_BeastBoy!" _

"Cyborg?"

"Rob!"

"_Starfire?" _

"**Friends!" **

Now, Starfire is not the tallest person on the team. But she is certainly the most physically powerful, as she demonstrated when she picked up her three teammates and one green Rhinoceros up into a giant bear hug.

"_Raven-BeastBoy-Cyborg! _You are all _alive!_ We have _found _you! Robin, is this not _wonderful_?" Starfire said, hot tears of happiness flowing down her cheeks.

Raven had somehow managed to avoid the trash-compactor grip of her friend, and stood to one side of her floating comrade. "Uh, Starfire? He can't respond."

"Why ever _not_?"

"Because he can't draw a _breath_." Raven said poignantly.

Sure enough, Robin was now purple, his mask about to pop off of his face. His arm was pressed inward and bent at an odd angle. It was pressed against BeastBoys green Rhino Hyde, his body also squeezed into shape much too small for most creatures his size.

Starfire let go, her friends crumpling to the ground like so much origami. "Oh, _my!_ I do apologize!"

Cyborg took a deep breath. "It HURTS (_Gasp_) to _think!_"

"You'll be fine," Raven said. "Starfire didn't squeeze _that_ ha-"

_**SNATCH!**_

"_Raven! _You have no _idea_ how much I've _missed_ you!" Starfire blurted.

The hug was unexpected, but strangely, not uncomfortable. Raven found herself clutched close to the cold, off-orange skin of the young princess, her touch soft and affectionate, but not overly intimate. The hug felt as if it had had a long time coming.

The same could have been said for Star's tears.

"I _missed _you…so _much_!" Starfire whispered fiercely.

Although Cyborg and BeastBoy didn't receive the same individual attention as Raven, they knew that her feelings were cumulative. She and Robin had spent the last three and a half days wondering whether or not their friends were injured, captured, or worse, _dead_. Robin was fantastic company. (More so than they realized)

But nothing ever really takes the place of your best friend. And Raven knew that.

"I missed you _too,_ Star." Raven said as she returned the hug, turning her head to look at her leader. "You too, Robin."

Robin nodded, his face relaxing, returning to its original color. "And you Raven. It's good to see that you're in one piece. _All _of you."

"Even if some of those pieces aren't original." Cyborg said, disengaging his cannon as he approached his friend. "It's good to see you bro."

"Same here. How you holdin' up BeastBoy?" Robin asked.

"Been better." BB said as he reassumed his human form. "But still kickin'."

Raven pulled away, looking at Starfire's watery eyes. "You gonna be OK?"

"Yes, I believe so…" Star began, just before her face filled with shock. "Raven! What has happened to you _head?_"

BeastBoy jerked slightly, just enough for Starfire to notice. "_BeastBoy?_"

"Yea, about that…" BB began with hesitant words.

"It's been a _long_ couple 'a days." Cy said, placing a hand on Robins shoulder. "We thought that…well, at least we _hoped_ that you two had survived the…"

"Ditto." Robin said, looking at Raven. "I can only imagine what you three have been through."

"Likewise. Oh, and, uh, sorry about the ambush." BeastBoy said sheepishly.

Robin's keen eye began evaluating things almost instantly. He noticed the abnormalities that were present in all of his teammates: BeastBoy's burnt skin and frazzled hair, the scar upon Raven's temple and her tattered cape, the hasty repair-job that covered a small part of Cyborgs waist coupled with a huge lump on his organic forehead…he could see them all, even in the dim light.

"I imagine you guys have a lot to tell Star and I." Robin said.

BeastBoy kept watch as the newly reunited Titans stepped into the small control room. Although ten minutes wasn't nearly sufficient enough to talk about what had happened over the last few days, the basics were covered in just about that much time. While some of the more _private_ details were kept as such, everything that had happened was reported, right up to when Robin and Starfire had made their entrance.

Robin didn't like what he was hearing. "And you're _sure_ that you read the computer correctly?"

"I read the same things he did," Raven confirmed, walking towards BB. "So did BeastBoy."

"_How_ many diggers did you say there were?" Robin asked again.

"Enough to hollow out this place in less than a month," Cyborg said as he attempted to re-boot the large workstation. "Probably more than ten or twelve."

"But what is the point of this Xinothium energy plant?" Starfire asked, staying close to Robin. "It sounds as though SLADE has found a way to refine the material for _weapons_, not energy."

"He needs a way to power those _Atlas_ soldiers, right?" BB said from his position. "Maybe he uses it for that."

"But why use a fusion reactor?" Raven asked. "Isn't that a bit…_excessive_?"

"SLADE often implements strategies that require more than he needs." Robin said as he scratched his head. "But STILL, this seems a bit much."

Cyborg fell to his knees, yanked the bottom off of the large console, and began working on the wiring mechanic-style. "Nearly one-hundred and fifty thousand soldiers _would_ fit the bill, wouldn't it?"

"You said that the computer mentioned something about 'continental targets'," Starfire said. "Did the computer imply a _location_ of any kind?"

"No specific names, at least none that _I _could read. They were all coded." Cyborg said as he worked.

"How many where there?" Robin asked.

"I counted about twenty-eight hundred lines of coded data, each separated into hierarchies of one-hundred or so." Cy said, looking up at Robin. "You don't think…?"

"Nah. SLADE isn't stupid enough to launch a full-scale invasion against the _world_." Robin said with a scoff. "As impressive as this army is, the combined military force of the planet still outnumbers him by more than a _thousand_ to _one_."

BeastBoy looked thoughtful. Something was bugging him, and Raven could sense it. She stood close to him as he scanned his vision up and down the dark corridors. His eyes never wavered, and his ears kept him in the loop of the conversation.

"What is it?" Raven asked.

"Huh?" BB asked.

"I could _swim_ through your apprehension right now," Raven said. "So don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about."

BeastBoy sighed and looked at the beautiful pale woman. He knew he couldn't put anything past her, but he still didn't like the idea that he was so easily read.

"This has been _way_ too easy."

Raven's eyes blinked wide for a second. "I can think of a few adjectives to describe the last few days, but _easy _isn't one of them."

But BeastBoy was steady. "We avoided the guards; we've hacked into a huge computer; we've made a huge ruckus, slammed our friends into the concrete, yelled and screamed like crazy…"

"Yes?" Raven encouraged.

"And not _one _alarm has gone off. No camera has spotted us. Not one guard has approached this place in the last hour." BeastBoy said slowly. "Doesn't this strike you as a tad…_odd?_"

Before Raven could answer, she heard a yell from behind her. "Yes! We are _on-line_!"

The pair walked back towards the three other titans, their faces once more alight with the pale glow of the screens. Robin and Cyborg raced their fingers over the keys, attempting to locate as much information as possible.

"I've got the search procedures back." Cy said.

"Primary data links re-established."

"Secondary systems reactivated."

"Data transfer circuits fully accessed."

"And a _partridge_ in a _pear tree_!" BeastBoy said in a singsong voice.

The four titans narrowed their eyes his bad joke, his smile shrinking away. "Sorry."

"We don't have the same kind of connection as before, so all we can do is launch searches for key words and phrases. It's crude, but it'll have to do." Cyborg said.

Starfire looked at the small boxes upon the screens, each with a 'Search' command blinking on and off within them. "Should we not attempt to disable this entire facility? Maybe sabotage it in the same fashion as Jinx?"

Robin shook his head. "We don't have enough Intel on this place to try that. We need to know more about what we're _dealing_ with before we try to shut down _anything_."

Raven stepped up to the controls. "Then let's do that. Cyborg, can you call up any visual information from the past couple of weeks? Anything that might have to do with that countdown we saw?"

"Yes, we should try to locate a schedule of some kind, maybe a battle-plan." Star suggested.

"You should search under 'Recent Stratagem Addendums'." BeastBoy said.

"Just how hard _did_ you hit your head?" Robin asked, his face shocked at what BB had said.

"I heard it in a Saturday morning cartoon, that's all." BeastBoy said, his cheeks slightly red. "I never thought it made sense until now."

'_Now who's the show-off?' _Raven chided him in his head, earning her a small smile.

"Works for me." Cyborg said as he began typing.

But Robin stopped him. "_Wait!_ Cy, look!"

Cyborg stilled himself. He had only managed to type out the first two letters, R and E, into the search box.

But there were already a set of words being displayed.

Starfire cocked her head. "_Reconstitution?_"

Robin stepped back. Displayed in the small box was the word '_Reconstitution_', with the last twelve letters slightly less bold than the first two. It blinked on and off, as if waiting for someone to execute a command.

"Somebody researched this word once before." Cyborg said as he hit the ENTER key. "And I don't think it was SLADE"

Lines of data began scrolling across the various screens. Each one seemed to be listing several key ingredients, or components, to _something_ that had yet to be displayed. BeastBoy began to feel dizzy as his eyes tried to keep up with the rapidly increasing amounts of data. His eyes very soon resembled the wheels of a slot machine after the handle had been pulled.

Raven was a little less overwhelmed, but no less baffled. "Nutrient supplements…retro-viral decontamination…R.N.A. manipulation…musculature enhancements…scion-wave pattern readouts…"

"What the heck does any of this have to do with re-writing the constitution?" BeastBoy said, attempting to act intelligent.

"Nothing, bone-head. These are biological variables consistent with some kind of organic compound." Cyborg said, his eyes never leaving the screen. "But as to what KIND of compound, well…"

"There! Stop!" Robin interjected, pointing at the screen. "There's a surveillance feed-back recording! Punch it up."

Cyborg directed the cursor to the passing data line and clicked on it. A second later, a large video display appeared, covering a good portion of the screen. It was in color this time, and the large glass container that it was recording seemed empty, save a clear liquid that filled it to the brim. It was surrounded by large machinery and covered in electrical fiber-optics, giving the liquid a blue tint.

"OK…what are we watching?" Raven asked.

A tiny black dot appeared in the center of the container. It seemed to warp and change in shape at a very fast pace, stimulated by a static current. White numbers flashed by at incredible speed in the lower right hand corner, indicating that days or weeks were passing in mere seconds before the Titans eyes.

"It's accelerated photography. We aren't looking at this video feed in real time." Cyborg informed.

"Great, but like Raven said, '_What are we watching?_'" BeastBoy said, standing at her side.

"It is _changing_!" Starfire chimed in.

The black splotch in the center of the large glass container was indeed changing. By Robins estimates, a month had passed by in the few short seconds that he had been watching the video, but the shape was indeed growing and changing at an alarming rate. It was nearly as big as the container when Robin began discerning certain features. He could now see something that resembled flesh…

And skin…

And a _head_…

Only Raven could manage a word. "It looks almost…_human._"

She may have continued, had the 'human' in question not suddenly opened two large slits in its forehead. The image froze along with the words in her mouth.

"Humans don't have yellow _eyes._" Cyborg said quietly, his face stolid in the computers glare.

"What in _God's _name…" Robin whispered.

**TH_-WHIP!_**

_/Trust me, Titans; GOD has absolutely **nothing** to do with it./_ said a voice.

Robin only felt pain in the back of his neck for a split second. The toxin of the dart had already begun slowing down his nervous system. He slowly, almost lazily pulled the sharp projectile from his flesh, and looked at it as if he had never seen anything more puzzling. His eyes had a hard time registering the odd shape of the dart, and his mind found it troublesome that all the lines and colors were suddenly running together.

He could still see other things, even if they all appeared to be a great distance away. Starfire's hair wrapped around her face as she fell, her shocked impression still beautiful, in its own way. He vaguely remembered feeling sorry for BeastBoy, given that he seemed to have seven or eight little darts impaled into his back. He had flung himself in front of Ravens fallen body, not realizing that she had already been struck. The small trickle of blood running down the front of her uniform was amplified by her dark outfit and the odd lighting. But Cyborgs armor was still as blue as the sky, regardless of the light. His electronic eye began to dim just a large bolts of electricity lit up his face. The red color was replaced a second later, but this time with the small river that poured from Cyborgs mouth.

Robin hadn't realized that he had crawled over to his teammates. His ears registered the sound of approaching footsteps. They seemed to be four or five times more sensitive than normal, and each metallic footfall echoed in his head. Even as time seemed to stop and his eyes began to dim he could still make out a vague, familiar shape. The colors were off slightly, but thankfully there is a quite a difference between the pigmentations of orange and black.

"Sss…_SLADE_…" Robin slurred, placing his own battered body between the dark figure and his friends.

"_Touching_…" came the voice.

**_WHAM-_CRACK!**

"…but _futile_."

Somewhere in the back of Robins mind, he _knew_ that he shouldn't be able to see the bottom row of his teeth, especially since he was looking at the ceiling. But at that moment, all Robin could think of was how cool the concrete felt against his bloody cheek, and how warm his body felt just before it went numb.

All those questions could be answered later. Right now, his body told him to sleep. And so, he did as his flesh commanded.

The screams of his friends greeted him in his dreams.


	16. Malevolence

_Probably my longest chapter yet, though I'm not sure. I warn all who read, this particular segment becomes somewhat intense, so if you become easily offended or grossed out, I advise you to tread softly. I really want reviews for this chapter, if only to make sure that y'all are still reading. I hope SLADE is just as bad as he's supposed to be. I'll update again in about a week. Until then, read, review, and enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: I can write about Teen Titans, but I can't, and don't, own them. Yet. _

**Chap. 16: Malevolence**

…_**Raven…**_

'_Leave me alone.'_

…_**RAVEN…**_

'_Leave me in peace…just…let me sleep…please…' _

…_**YOU CAN NOT REST YET RAVEN…**_

'_But I can't move…need…**sleep**…'_

…_**YOUR STRENGTH HAS RETURNED…USE IT…**_

'…_no_…'

…_**AWAKEN!**_

"_AHHHHHHH!_"

The young woman's voice carried slightly as she jerked awake. The echo of her scream reverberated around her head for a moment, before shrieking away above her, to disappear into the darkness.

_'Again with the voice.' _she thought.

Raven opened her eyes, but the process was difficult. '_Why do my eyes feel so **heavy**?' _

Slowly, every so slowly, her dark eyes began to open. Her eyelids felt as though they were stuck together, for they would only separate with great effort. Raven had difficulty focusing her pupils on anything, and the near total darkness didn't help either.

She tried to bring her hand to her face to see if she could make it out in the darkness. Problem was, she couldn't move her hands below her face.

'_What **is **this place?' _Raven thought, trying to pull her arms down from their suspended position above her head. Her wrists were bound as well, a cold material clasping them together so that her fingers would touch.

'_Steel?' _she wondered.

The feeling was beginning to return to her upper body. But that feeling brought consequences; the pulled muscles in her overextended shoulders, the throbbing pain in her neck, the copper-ish taste of blood in her mouth…it was all there to meet her. She could barely feel how swollen her lip was with her numbed tongue.

The darker recesses of her mind were beginning to reach consciousness as well. While her ability to focus on _anything_ besides the pain was limited, she was able to grasp at bits and pieces of her memory; a computer screen…shouting…the petrified look on BeastBoys face…a six foot shadow…

…and then nothing.

'_Dark surroundings, cold steel to inhibit my abilities, seclusion, a migraine the size of Pluto,' _Raven thought as she moved to a sitting position. _'SLADE cooked up **everything, **even if it is s__uperfluous_._' _

By now, Ravens eyes had adjusted to the low light, her pupils finally returning to their normal size.

'_That drug must be wearing off.' _She thought to herself.

While thinking was slightly less taxing now, _moving_ was a different story altogether. Her legs felt battered and her head-injury sizzled with a renewed pain. Her leotard felt as if it were in shreds, even though she could still feel the binding material around her upper body. The cold in the room sliced through _it_ and _her _without relent; she may as well have been naked.

But of all the things that disturbed her in her current situation, the _silence_ was the worst.

'_Like being buried alive.' _Raven thought, her mind entertaining the horrific concept for a moment. _'Quiet as the grave.' _

Raven lifted up her left foot, and then her right. _'I've gotta try to stand. If I sit like this for much longer, I'll-'_

**CRIIII-_ZAP!_**

"_AAAAAARRGGGHH! _HUH_-AAAAHHH!_"

The flashes of silver light assaulted her eyes before the sound afflicted her ears. A small, barred window about six inches square could now be seen to her immediate right, lighting up her small prison and all its features. The deep, animalistic howl bounced off the close walls around her, causing her ears to ring. The cold concrete acted like a small resonance chamber, trapping the sound all around her for several seconds afterwards.

Raven jumped to her feet; she knew that voice. "_Cyborg_-**_UH!_**"

A twisting pain thrusted itself into her chest, causing her knee's to buckle. As she fell to the cold stone again, her shackles yanked her arms back above her head, jerking new pain from her shoulders.

Raven could feel the tight, forceful knot in her chest, as if a large nail had been driven between her ribs. The muscles around said injury were still sluggish and weak, the area still tender from where it had been punctured.

Raven took short, staggered breaths before she attempted to stand again. Her legs felt colder than ice and the muscles felt useless. It was a wonder that she had could walk all the way to the small opening in the wall to her right, bound as her ankles were. The soreness in her wrists told her that she had literally been hanging from these shackles for a good long while. But as to how long, she didn't know.

"_Cyborg_…" Raven said cautiously. "…is that _you_?"

Raven was able to lift herself high enough to just peek over the lip of the opening, her legs straining against the chains on her feet.

Her tears came to her eyes faster than she could speak. "Oh, my…_Cyborg!"_

The surprise at the strength of her own scream did not detour her from her shock. Her eyes were glazed over with tears of anger and remorse. Even when Cyborg smiled at her and attempted to wave at her, she could not return his gesture.

For when Cyborg had noticed and attempted to signal her, he had done so from opposite ends of his cell.

Raven almost couldn't recognize the charred remains of her friend. _"What has he **DONE** to you?" _

Normally, it wouldn't have been much of a shock to see Cyborg is several different mechanical pieces; Raven had become accustomed to the idea.

She wasn't accustomed to seeing Cyborgs _organic_ components in several different pieces.

"It _looks_ worse than it really is, Raven." came the partially muted voice from Cyborgs lacerated head.

The wires that were attached to the loose bone and ravaged flesh that had once been Cyborgs organic torso literally _pulsed _with energy. They webbed outwards from the center of the room, climbing the walls like vines. Some were plugged into various outlets upon Cy's metallic body parts; others were shoved into his flesh directly. Bright silver sparks would splatter against the floor of the cell, landing willy-nilly upon exposed, bloodied muscle and soft-tissue.

It was as if Cyborg had self-detonated in the midst of a technological rain-forest, which was now _reclaiming_ him and decomposing his body.

"I'm going to _help _you, just _hold on…"_

"Raven, I'm not going _anywhere_." Cyborgs head said, blood trickling into his eye.

"I can't let that maniac _do_ this to you!" Raven cried, despite the pain in her sternum.

"Raven, _Raven_, I'm alright. For a little while, at least." Cyborg whispered.

"What are you _talking_ about?" Raven demanded, her arms weak from her struggling. "What happens in a little-?"

**CRIIII-_ZAP!_**

"_AAAAAARRGGGHH!" _

Raven watched in horror as her companion suddenly lit up like a blue and brown Christmas tree. Electricity surged through the various wires and cords all around him, arching across his teeth and between his exposed rib-cage. The walls were practically glowing with the electrolysis, the complete circuit courtesy of Cyborgs own flesh.

"Azarath, _Metrion_, _**Zinthos**!_" Raven screamed, beating her chains against the unyielding wall. Her eyes stung with the salt-water that poured from them, and her heart threatened to rips its way free from her breast. Her powers _still_ would not respond.

The despair she felt inside herself hung heavier than her chains. "_Cyborg!_ **_Talk _**to me, _please...**SAY**_ _something…" _

**DimDimDimDim…**

The new sound was loud but less alarming than the electrocution. Raven grasped the cold bars with her slender fingers, and peered inside.

A long hose had lowered from out of nowhere, the tube transparent and wide. It was suspended by a chain at the nozzle-end, the tip looking like a small vacuum cleaner head. But instead of sucking anything up, it was pumping something out; a gray, thick paste, barely visible in the poor light.

"It's a synthetic protein solution." Cyborg said, his head still crisping from his recent short-circuiting experience. "It heals damaged tissue and repairs musculature erosion…_mostly._"

Raven felt sick. "He's…_torturing _you?"

Cyborg tried to smile, but his cheeks had massive holes in them at the moment. "He's been at it for about ten hours now. The bastard is _consistent_, I'll give him that."

Raven tried to comprehend what was happening. It seemed like a second, or possibly a year ago, thatshe and her friends had been standing at a large computer screen, trying to learn as much as possible about what SLADE was up to…and then _this_.

But something didn't add up. "Why is he only doing this to _you_? Why isn't he torturing anyone else?"

"He _is._" came a soft voice from ahead of her.

'_Oh, Azar…' _Raven thought."Starfire!"

She tried to pull her chains to their limit, but Raven could only get within a foot of the small door before her. She pushed as much as she could with her slippery boots and freezing legs, but couldn't pull any harder, less she ripped her hands off. The tiny window in the door gave no hint of light…

…but gave a hint of orange hair. "_Starfire! _Can you _hear_ me?"

Raven caught a glimpse of green eyes, which were replaced a second later by a small hand, still too large to reach through the bars of the barred window. The shadowed fingers curled and stretched, trying in vain to reach their target. A dim yellow light seemed to be encircling the hand that held those fingers, further hindering her attempt.

"_Raven! _Raven I…I cannot _reach _you…!" Starfire said, desperation threatening on the tip of her tongue.

Raven strained as well, but to no avail. "I can't either, Star. Are you _alright_? _Physically_, I mean?"

"These bindings are _painful_, Raven…I wish to _remove_ them, but I don't have the strength…" Starfire said, her voice deeply troubled.

"They are probably draining your powers." Raven said, trying to keep Star from panicking. She stood back slightly, her arms still raised above her head. "I don't think you should struggle for now. It may only get worse if you do."

"I cannot just _sit_ here and watch this! I **refuse**!" Starfire protested passionately, banging her cuffs against the solid door.

"I _know_, I _know_, Starfire. I want to help Cyborg too, but for right now-"

"Robin should not be _hanging_ the way he is!" Starfire interrupted.

'_Wait a minute…' _Raven thought. "Star, can you _see_ Robin? Where _is_ he?"

"He is _here_." Starfire said, her eyes brimming with fresh tears.

"_What?_ I don't understand." Raven said, squinting in the dark.

"If only my chains were a _little_ longer…" Starfire said disparately.

Raven craned her neck sharply to the left, and focused her senses. She opened her pupils as wide as they would go, allowing as much light as possible into her eyes. She did her best to focus on the wall that she thought was opposite of Starfire, making out as many shapes as possible in the dungeon dim.

"All I need is a few more _centimeters_…I…I just want to _touch_ him…just for a _moment_, that is all…"

Raven could hear the soft pitter-pat of Starfire's tears upon the cold stone floor. If Raven was seeing what she thought she was seeing, she wouldn't be far behind her.

Robin appeared to be crucified. His arms were held out in a cross-like fashion, his head lying to one side, his legs together. While Raven could not see any puncture wounds from where she stood, she did notice that there was something strange about how his head looked. A very soft, almost imperceptible light could be seen from above and behind him, his hair splayed out as if he had just emerged from a shower. Water was dripping upon his head from an unseen source, the droplets heavy and constant.

Starfire suddenly lunged forward, her wrist-restraints sliding up her long arms, all the way to her elbow. The skin on her arms looked torn and ragged, as if a razor-blade had been drawn across her flesh. The tips of her fingers pointed to their maximum length…and came within an inch of Robins soaking uniform lapel.

"_Robin!_" Starfire yelled, her voice cracking from her effort. "Wake _up! _I am right _here_, can you not **_see _**me?"

Raven almost couldn't listen.

"You are _alive, _I can **feel** it!" Starfire continued, attempting to brace her legs against the wall behind her. "You are _alive_ and we are going to get _out_ of here and then we will go back _home_ and complain about the _weather_ and continue _swimming_ in the hot sun and you will tell me all the _secrets_ that you have always wanted to tell me…_Remember?_...You _promised_ me…!"

Raven felt her heart crack, just slightly, when she heard Starfire fall to the floor. The young woman's eyes were pressed into her arm, her fist weakly beating the ground.

Raven knew she would never forget the sound of Starfires voice for as long as she lived.

"You _promised…!_"

Starfire was being tormented; Raven could understand that now. What greater anguish _could_ there be than to be within arms reach of your one true love, to watch them suffer, and being _powerless_ to stop it?

Raven fell back against the wall, her body feeling as those it were in a million pieces. For a time, all she could hear was the sound of the dripping water, and Starfires pitiful sobs. Her inability to comfort her friend only twisted the knife in the situation. The cold made her blood feel as though it were frozen molasses, creeping through her veins and arteries at a snails place. Ravens' skin felt fragile and dead, like a giant autumn leaf, encompassing her whole body. She could not tell if she was perspiring or if her head injury was bleeding again. Maybe it was both. The breathe in her lungs added pinpricks to her already masticated chest muscles, and the taste of her own blood gave her mouth a sticky, raw taste.

"I wonder what level of hell _this _is." Raven said to the darkness.

"A pretty _deep_ one, Raven." Cyborg said, his voice reverent. "But we should count our blessings, all things considered."

Raven felt the sides of her mouth tug outwards ruefully, her voice similar in tone to that of an old woman. "Oh? What blessings are _those_?"

"At least we're all _together_, more or less." Cyborg said, the skin begging to replenish itself upon his neck. "And we're all _alive,_ for the time being."

Raven thought she was being told to be thankful for the hand she still had after one had been shot off. "We're only going to be alive for as long as we are…"

'_Wait a second…' _Raven thought. "What do you mean '_All together_'?"

"That reminds me. You should check on BB." Cyborg said, his tone sympathetic. "He's had a rough couple of hours too."

Ravens body and heart felt as if they were shod in lead. "_Where_…?"

"The cell to your left." Cyborg informed, reading Ravens mind. "He's been really quiet."

It might have been the numbness, the loss of blood, or the after-effects of the toxin; Raven couldn't tell at the time. She somehow managed to reach the third small window and press her face to the bars without realizing that she had moved. She couldn't necessarily feel the hard steel beneath her finger-tips, nor did she register the new pain in her shoulders, having moved so quickly.

What she _did_ notice was how much warmer she felt when she finally laid eyes upon BeastBoy again…

…and how much colder she felt when she realized that he wasn't moving.

"_Be…BeastBoy?_" Raven choked out, her eyes wide with shock.

His arms and legs were bound much in the same way as her own. The manacles were thick and heavy, and his chains could have anchored a battleship. A collar, strange in color and design, was clamped around his neck, with a long, glowing red tether attached to the wall behind him. His mouth seemed to be covered in something, similar to a dog-muzzle, with a few alterations; the muzzle covered his entire face, save his eyes.

A sudden recollection of her dream sprung to mind; the similarities were uncanny.

Raven bit her lower lip, trying to keep it from shaking; she couldn't tell if he was breathing.

"Is he…_gone?_" Raven asked, unable to use the proper adjective.

"That's the thing about BB," Cyborg said, his voice distant, but suddenly full of admiration. "The boy will fight like _hell_ if you try to hurt someone he cares about."

"_Why_…what _happened_ to him?" Raven asked, unable to turn away.

"I never actually saw any of it," Cyborg started, his story slow and careful, "But I could hear a great deal. BeastBoy went _bananas_ when he saw that you were hit. The only thing I heard, aside from the sound of my _own_ dissection, was fighting. _Screaming._"

Cyborg gave half hearted smile. "He didn't go down _easy_."

Raven knew that her powers were gone, possibly forever. But she would have given them up _permanently _if she could only touch the face of the green prisoner before her. All of her wants, her needs, her responsibilities to her powers and heritage, all the control she ever had…she would push it aside.

She had never wanted to be held _more_ in her life then right at that moment; held…by _BeastBoy_.

"He fought _hard_ for us, didn't he?" Raven asked, her demeanor returning to a calmer state.

"Yeah. But he fought _hardest_ for you. He always _has_." Cyborg said, happy that Raven was less distressed now. "He fights with his heart, and doesn't listen to _anything_ else."

"**_Petulant_ children rarely _do_.**"

The voice was all around her. Raven felt as though a cold river had begun to trickle down her spine, her body suddenly feeling exposed and abused. This same feeling of uncontrollable anger, fear, and helplessness had assaulted her body once before. The last time it had happened, she had been forced to witness the end of the world; an Armageddon that would eventually come to pass as a result of her own lineage. Raven had been made to endure a mental and emotional violation unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

That _voice_…it was like psychological rape all over again.

"_Show _yourself, SLADE!" Starfire demanded, a new vigor returning to her voice.

"**Ah, _Starfire._** **How have you _been_, my dear? Taking good care of _Robin_, have you?" **

"I will take care of _you_ soon _enough, _you _frackring, cooksile-licking little_…"

"**Temper, _temper_ child; name calling is unbecoming of a princess," **said the amplified voice. **"Besides, it serves no purpose to become _angry_ about situations which one cannot control. Wouldn't you _agree, _Raven?" **

Raven felt as though acid was dripping into her chest.

"Don't you _dare _speak to her!" Cyborg warned, his disgust evident.

"**So, the fallen pinnacle _speaks_. Tell me, _Victor, _how does it feel to be back on the chopping block, hmm? Does it remind you of your dear parents?" **the voice goaded. **"Would they be _proud_ of their son at this moment? Mommy and daddies little _Frankenstein_?" **

Raven was convinced that Cyborg was contemplating all forms of homicide at that moment; SLADE knew how to kick a person when they were down.

But he wasn't finish yet. Not by a long shot. **"You know, _Raven_, I don't believe I've ever seen such a _change _in BeastBoys fighting style. It took nearly _ten_ security drones and over two-_hundred_ milligrams of sedatives before he went down, even after being _repeatedly_ injected with neurotoxin. I didn't think we would survive the night." **

Raven blinked away a cold tear on her cheek. She knew that SLADE was telling the truth about BeastBoy, as perverse a concept as that was.

She still hated seeing him like this.

"It must be _frustrating_, huh SLADE?" Raven said venomously. "Being so 'brilliant', so 'powerful'…and still being out-done, over and _over_ again, by a bunch of _teens_?"

Cyborg smiled at the abrupt silence that followed. "Whoops. I guess Raven hit a _nerve_."

**CRIIII-_ZAP!_**

"_AHHH! ARRRRG-_**AHHH!**"

"**No, Cyborg. But I'll wager _that _hit a few _thousand_." **chuckled the voice.

"Leave him _be_!" yelled Starfire.

"**You're in a very poor position to be demanding _anything_, my dear." **SLADE said with in his usual icy menace. **"If I were you, I would be much more concerned with the well-being of your _dear_ Robin. He seems a little more 'detached' than usual, doesn't he?" **

A harsh yellow light appeared in Starfires cell. The sudden transition hurt Raven's already sensitive eyes, and elicited a startled gasp from the orange-headed young woman. The light formed several small beams as it was pushed through the bars of Raven's window. She shielded her eyes from the intense glare.

"Starfire! What's going _on_?" Cyborg yelled.

Silence.

"Starfire, _answer _us! Tell us what you _see_!" Raven demanded, squinting in the light. "_Talk _to us!"

Nothing.

Raven was beginning to feel frightened now. The light was too bright to look at directly, and Raven had a hard time seeing _anything_ through the small window as a result. No matter how much she clawed and pulled at her restraints, she could not break them, nor yank them free.

Then she got an idea; a rash, ill conceived one, but an idea none the less.

'_This is going to **hurt**.' _Her subconscious warned her.

Placing her palms together and making her hands as narrow as possible, Raven began pulling downwards on her restraints. The cold metal bit into the back of her thumbs, but Raven kept pulling, ignoring the pain as best she could.

Just when she thought her hands would rip from her arms, she finally felt the slick metal give way. Her hands flew forward, having slipped out of their cuffs.

**CLING!**

Raven massaged her hands, slowing the bleeding that had begun on one of her fingers. The shackles clattered noisily against the stone wall behind her as she stood up. Without hesitating, Raven scrambled across the floor, pulling her leg-chains to their longest length. She grasped the metal bars around the front window of her cell, and pulled her face into the bright, streaming light.

The second that she did this, however, she automatically wished she hadn't.

The blackness that had once filled Starfire's cell had hidden many things about the hanging Robin before her; the most noticeable attributes being his twisted arm, his swollen eyes…

…and his dislocated jaw.

"**The boy never _did_ know when to shut his _mouth_, did he?" **SLADE hissed.

Starfire appeared to have been struck mute. Her eyes were wide and sunken, her lips open in an appalled gape. She sat upon her knees; her hair plastered to her sweaty face and bruised arms. Whether she had ceased to breathe at that point or not, Raven couldn't tell.

Raven wouldn't have been surprised if Star's heart had shattered.

"You'll _pay_…" rasped Cyborg, his anger flaring. "You'll pay _dearly _for whatever you've _done_ to him!"

Raven felt like a two year old as she watched Starfire reach out from where she sat, towards her maimed love. She curled her fingertips downwards, like a cat pawing at its reflection in a mirror. Her body language suggested that she _was_ registering what was happening before her.

Everything within her that kept her sane _refused _to **believe** what she saw.

"**I once _warned_ him that his defiance would catch up with him." **SLADE said softly, his tone almost regretful.

The voice was beginning to cut Raven in half. She couldn't fathom how Starfire was feeling; SLADE had already carved her up like a Christmas goose.

"**But where are my _manners_? Titans, join me, will you?" **

**_CLACK-_CLANG!**

**RumRum-RumRum-RumRum…**

Raven watched Starfire for as long as she could, but she couldn't keep her grasp upon the bars. The floor had begun to lift upwards under her, the concrete crawling up the walls into the darkened ceiling. Raven felt the vibrations of large, turning gears, pulling the solid stone floor like the chains of a medieval drawbridge.

Eventually, Starfire disappeared from sight.

The darkness that followed didn't last long. There was as loud 'whoosh' of compressed air from above, followed by a scraping sound. A tiny dot of the same piercing yellow light appeared above Raven's head, growing steadily wider as she was raised. The metal seal spread open in a circular fashion, much like the opening iris in a human eye. Raven was bathed in a golden light, her now sensitive eyes hidden by her draped hair. Knowing she couldn't use her powers, she kept her hands at her sides as she knelt upon the cold floor. She braced herself, unsure of what fresh hell was next to befall her.

There was a jerk and a dull clanking noise. The floor stopped rising. Raven opened her eyes.

"Titans, I bid you _welcome_. It's been a _long_ time, hasn't it?"

Raven pushed her hair back slightly and looked around.

Her friends were arranged in an arrow formation, with Raven as the tip. Cyborg was still at her right, the heavily shackled BeastBoy to her left. Starfire was directly ahead of her with Robin even further out, forming what could be called the arrow shaft. He was still well out her reach, but, as intended, directly in Star's sight.

Cyborg was still in pieces, his various, mangled organic parts lying here and there. His head, scarred and scorched in different areas, sat upright, facing away from his burned flesh. Static currents would spark across his metal frame, the once shiny titanium now dark and warped. The vines of electrical torture were removed, but it didn't seem to matter; there was little more damage to be done.

Robin now lay in a heap, no longer bound to a wall as he had been a few minutes before. His disfigured head lay to one side, his jaw still hanging at a sickening angle. Starfire sat upon her knees, the shocked look still plastered across her normally beautiful face.

Raven could make out a small line of drool that was falling from Robin's bottom lip.

"Muscle-relaxants tend to _do_ that to facial tissue." said the voice, this time without echoed amplification.

As was commonplace, and because his ego demanded it, SLADE sat on high. About fifteen feet from Robin's body was a large, marble staircase, the stone dark and richly patterned. The staircase was imbedded in a large, sloped piece of blackened metal, smooth as glass. It would have formed a cone had the tip not been leveled off. Hovering in mid air, almost transparent in appearance, where several holographic-projected screens, each one displaying different types of data. Higher up, suspended from the apparent ceiling, where over fifty lights, running the gambit from small to huge, keeping the large room well lit.

The seat atop the large structure was an innocent-looking black obelisk, carved from stone.

The man who sat **in** it was nothing even _close _to innocent.

"Hello, Raven. Have you _missed_ me?" SLADE inquired.

Raven only stared, her face murderous.

SLADE sat with contemptuous pride upon his 'throne'. His elbows were perched upon the arm-wrests, his fingers interwoven in front of his black and orange mask. His one visible eye was narrowed at his five captives, his posture relaxed and controlled. A dim orange light basked him in menacing color, his shoulder and chest armor glinting in the glow.

"I can think of a _few_ different feelings that I have towards you," Raven said darkly, raising her head slightly. "But even _you_ could guess about half of them."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," SLADE said, waving a single finger back and forth. "Come now, Raven, is that anyway to talk to a former partner-in-_crime_?"

"Raven was never your partner in _anything_, you _freak_!" Cyborg said, his voice cracked and electrically-distorted.

SLADE stood, and began walking down the dark steps, his armored boots thudding heavily upon the stone. "Oh? As I recall, Raven succeeded, with _my_ assistance, in bringing about the _end_ of the _world_. An impressive display of power, I might add."

He reached the bottom of the stairs, his six and one-half foot frame casting a shadow across the five teens. "Raven accomplished what I had _strived_ for; total, unprecedented destruction."

Raven was a little surprised when SLADE began clapping his hands in a praiseful manner. "Bra_vo, _daughter of _Trigon_."

"Be _silent! _Don't you _talk _to her! _EVER!_" Starfire yelled, snapping out of her stricken state.

"Princess _Starfire, _how good of you to re-join us." SLADE announced in his resonant tone, turning his attention to her. "I was afraid that I might have _drilled_ the last bit of fight right out of you. You aliens are a _resourceful_ breed, _that_ I will give you."

Starfire stood once more, her muscles rigid. She watched in horror as SLADE bent over and grabbed Robin by the collar of his uniform, effortlessly lifting the limp acrobat off of the ground with one hand. Robin's jaw lolled to one side, his muscled arms flaccid at their sides, his mouth wide open.

"Your _leader_, on the other hand, seems less _resilient_ than I would have given him credit for." SLADE said cruelly, just before he snapped his fingers.

Two doors, hidden from view, suddenly appeared in the darkened walls behind and around the throne-room. Deep red light emanated from the large openings, casting long shadows from within. Raven stretched her neck around to get a closer look.

Four SLADE drones appeared. They were not as large or as physically powerful as the Atlas look-alikes, but Raven knew from experience how dangerous and cunning these things were. Their long arms and incredibly thin bodies, covered in black, were capable of more than they let on.

Three of the tall machines carried large metal containers, the fourth carrying nothing but a small nylon bag. They positioned themselves around their creator, flanking his sides.

SLADE turned to one of them, pointing a gloved finger at Cyborg. "Reassemble _that_ one. Disengage his weaponry relay circuits and restrain his appendages."

The three drones were upon Cyborg like vultures upon a carcass. Their arms flew back and forth, tools appearing and disappearing as needed. The sound of scraping metal and arc-welding filled the large room. Sparks would fly here and there, dancing across the cold floor, some coming close enough to singe the tiny hairs on Ravens legs.

Cyborg never made a sound the whole time. Not one.

After five minutes of busy-work, the drones stopped. They stood, quickly recollected their various socket-wrenches and synaptic-regulators, and walked quickly out of the room the way they came in, one of the doors closing behind them.

Raven watched as Cyborg stood, once more, upon his battered legs. The scarring across his flesh was substantial and his once shinny armor was now darkened from the extensive electrical abuse.

But still he stood. His frame momentarily dwarfed his captor, his shoulders easily twice the width of SLADE.Raven watched with a growing sense of relief as her friend reassumed his proud posture, his arms bound in front of him by massive handcuffs.

Her hopes fell when he did, his huge body toppling forward, his chains rattling across the floor. SLADE stood his ground, still holding Robin by his cuff, as the mass of metal slammed into the concrete, his great weight creating a small crater in the stone. The force of the hit caused a tiny ripple to travel outwards in all directions, shaking the chains upon Raven's feet.

Starfire couldn't speak. And Cyborg could only moan from where he lay, his face ashen.

"Ah, how the mighty have _fallen_." SLADE hissed with fake disappointment, looking at Raven. "It appears my treatment was _successful_, wouldn't you agree?"

Raven wouldn't dignify him with a response. She was too busy sending Cyborg mental signals to stay down for now, and not to exacerbate his injuries. Whether he heard her or not, she couldn't tell. But he did stay down.

Something was wrong though. SLADE had not moved from where he stood, and had not dropped Robin. What was worse, one drone still remained, its face unreadable, its posture at the ready. Why hadn't it left with the other three?

SLADE answered her unasked question, his voice more commanding. "_Well_, now that all of you are here and accounted for, I think it would be _prudent_ to awaken our friend here. I believe he's napped long enough."

Without a single verbal command, the third drone marched forward, produced a syringe from the small parcel in its hand, and injected its contents into Robin's jugular. The whole event took less than a second, after which the drone marched away, the second doorway sealing behind it.

The slack-jawed teenager didn't move at first; his body seemed no more alive than the manacles that bound him to the floor. But within a minute or so, Raven began noticing small details of animation: twitching leg muscles, small spasms in the chest and neck, shuttered breathing.

Raven stood up, her body heavier than she remembered, and held her cold arms close over her body. The last time she had looked like this in front of SLADE, he had shown her a future in which the world had been torn asunder by her own birthright. She didn't like the familiarity with the situation.

Starfire had taken a more active stance as she watched Robin slowly awaken; one of alarm. "What have you _done _to him? Put him down! _NOW!_"

"A little adrenaline can do _wonders,_ princess. Be _patient_." SLADE warned, his eye momentarily swiveling to look at her.

The white slits of Robin's mask were beginning to open now; Raven could see the muscles in his face, trying to remember how to function correctly. His arms began flailing at his sides, curling upwards one second and then falling again. It seemed like he was breathing normally now, his chest rising and falling like it should.

The position of his jaw was certainly _abnormal_; he noticed that as soon as he tried to speak.

"Oh, thank _Zaul_! _Robin!_ Robin, can you _hear_ me?" Starfire cried, pulling once more upon her restraints. "Say something, _please!_ _Anything…!" _

"I wouldn't try to _talk_ if I were you, Robin. You may damage your soft-mandible tissue. Do you _understand_?" SLADE asked, tightening his grip on Robin's uniform. "Blink once for _yes_ and twice for _no_."

Robin starred wildly at the ceiling, his eyes huge and his breathing hoarse. Gurgling sounds could be heard deep in his throat. Raven felt her chest tighten every time Robin tried to speak, his vocal cords humming, but no words coming out.

He finally looked, wide eye, at SLADE. He blinked.

"_Good._ Now, since I have your attention, I have a few questions to ask you. Do you know where you are?" SLADE asked.

Another gurgle, another blink.

"_Ex_cellent; wonderful responsiveness to stimuli. Now, Robin, I have just one more question for you." SLADE said in a low voice. He turned his fist, causing his Robin's head to roll to one side, so that he was looking directly at Starfire.

"Tell me, do you _know_ why I decided to wake you here? _Now_?" SLADE asked, holding Robin's dangling chin with his other hang.

Two blinks.

**_SNAP-_CRRRACK!**

"I wanted _you_ to feel every _bit_ of that…and for _her_ to _see_." SLADE whispered.

Somewhere in the distance, Raven could hear Starfire scream. It was fainter than it should have been; the blood-curdling sound was usually powerful enough to set off car alarms. But Raven could only barely register it. Her mind, and her five senses, had suddenly gone numb.

She could only stare as she watched SLADE _ram _Robin's jaw back into place.

Starfire's eyes were practically aflame. "_I will **kill** you! Do you_ _understand me, SLADE? I will rip your diseased brain from your-!_"

**_WHA-_BAM!**

Starfire's outburst was cut short, having been savagely back-handed by SLADE with his free fist. The beautiful young woman collapsed at Raven's feet, her head striking the cement sharply.

"How does it feel to be _human, _child?" SLADE taunted the fallen princess. "You've tried for _years_ to 'fit in' on this planet. I thought you would _thank _me for the gift I'd given you. With all your strength _bleeding_ from your body into those kinetic-energy dampeners around your wrists, you finally know what it means to be as _pathetic_ and _powerless_ as the rest of them."

SLADE shifted his hand from Robin's collar to his throat in one swift motion, his fingers curling tightly around the teenagers gagging throat. "Especially _this _one."

Raven had gathered Star into her arms, wiping the small trail of blood from the corner of her mouth. The look of indignation and pure, unadulterated loathing never left Starfire's face, even after she had been struck. She gripped Raven's arm for support, pulling herself into a sitting position, holding back her outraged tears as best she could.

The shadowed look in Raven's eyes spoke volumes on their own. So did the low, grinding tone of her voice. "Put him _down_, SLADE, or by _heaven_ I'll-"

"You'll _what_?" SLADE asked calmly, the choking Robin still hoisted in his grip.

Raven's frustration showed on her face; she couldn't answer.

"That's what I _thought_." SLADE said flatly. "I know your powers haven't been functioning since you arrived on the continent."

"But _how_ could-?"

"The kinesis-flux inhibitor I invented has made you quite harmless. The generators effects blanket the entire continent, as I'm sure you discovered two nights ago." SLADE said, his one visible eye never straying from her face.

Cyborg was slowly pushing himself to his feet, his face angered and confused. "How the _hell_ could you have _known _all of that…?"

SLADE gave a small chuckle, enjoying the tactile pleasure of Robin's pulse beneath his finger-tips. "You don't honestly believe I would _lure _the five of you _down_ here without taking some precautionary measures, _do_ you?"

The stunned silence pleased the megalomaniac.

Imagine Starfire's cascading relief when she heard Robin's broken, raspy voice.

"_T-T…TRAP…!" _

"Not _originally, _my dear boy." SLADE admitted, pulling Robin's face close to his mask. "But the opportunity presented itself, and I knew my _bait_ would send you _running._"

"_Jinx…_" Starfire whispered, holding Raven tighter.

"I could have _killed_ the pink-haired witch at any time. But her infiltration of this base, as ingenious as she _thought_ it was, proved far more beneficial than I ever dreamt possible." SLADE said.

"You _MUTILATED _her!" Cyborg boomed, his legs feebly struggling against his chains.

"I merely took what I _needed_ from the insolent _snipe_, and sent her on her way." SLADE said matter-of-factly. "The injuries and head trauma were mostly for _your _benefit…though I would be _lying _if I said that I received _no_ enjoyment from it."

After what seemed like an eternity, SLADE finally dropped the rag-doll body of his former apprentice. Robin fell from five feet up, landing heavily upon the flat of his back. The air was forced out of his lungs upon impact, to be sucked back in with heaving, choking breaths. His hands found his own throat, attempting to alleviate the pressure from the fingers that no longer gripped it.

Starfire was up like The Flash, her arms clawing at the ground for better traction. "_Robin!_"

Though their bonds were stretched to their limits, Starfire somehow managed to pull Robin off of the cold floor, and into her lap. She cradled his battered face and purple jaw in her arms, her forehead pressed to his. As if consoling a child, she began to rock back and forth, her fingers finding and keeping tabs on his erratic pulse; it was as much for her peace of mind as it was for his. Robin's staggered breathing began to slow, his gasps for air less desperate. He still couldn't move his mouth normally, and his voice-box felt as though it had been run over by a car.

But even after all that, he still managed to look at Starfire, place his hand on the side of her stricken face…and smile.

Starfire just let her words, and her tears, flow. "_It will be **OK**, Robin…I'm here now, I won't let him touch you again, I SWEAR it…just breathe, just look at me…I'll keep you safe…it will be **OK**, you will be **OK**…_"

Raven knew that Starfire rarely used contractions, primarily because she was not entirely familiar with human linguistic slang. It often made her sound awkward when she tried to use it, especially since she was still a long ways away from mastering English, or any other Earth-borne language.

But a person can only take _so_ much torment, physical or otherwise.

SLADE had leisurely strolled to the foot of his stone steps, watching his prisoners carefully. His arms were folded across his broad chest in a relaxed fashion, his head tilted to one side; much like a dog would do as it witnessed the strange behavior of humans.

Raven took notice of this, and once she was sure that Starfire had Robin safe, decided to speak. "I guess I shouldn't be _surprised_ that you would look confused."

"_Excuse_ me?" SLADE said, a hint of warning in his tone.

Raven wobbled to her feet, her voice more confident. "You've never _experienced_, or _shown_, anything even _close_ to friendship or love. So how in the world would you _recognize_ it when you _see_ it?"

To her surprise, SLADE actually seemed to consider her thought. He lifted a hand to his face, his fingers musing under his chin.

"I suppose that when it comes to being _incapable _of feeling anything, _you_ would be somewhat of an _expert_ on the subject, eh Raven?" SLADE said, knowing that his words would have the desired effect.

"She knows more than _you_, if that's what you mean."

The voice was muffled and completely unexpected. Up until that point, only three of the Titans had working mouths, and enough fortitude to speak.

The fourth one had just woken up.

"So, the gangrenous fifth-wheel has decided to _join_ us." SLADE said, turning his eye, but not his head, to look at BeastBoy. "And, as _usual_, he has something to say."

Raven wanted, at the very least, to help BeastBoy as he struggled to his feet. In an animal morph, he was as powerful as nature had designed that animal to be. But in his human form, his muscles had to greatly compensate for the extra weight which he now bore. The drugs were slowly leaving his body, but he was still sluggish, and he squinted in the powerful light. The muzzle seemed to stretch his face downwards, making his eyes look as if they were only half open. His back was hunched and his legs shaky, but still he managed to stand.

Raven had no idea what he was planning. Or _why_ he had suddenly woken up.

She was just glad that he was awake.

"Raven has more knowledge in her little finger than you do in your whole, twisted, _body_!" BeastBoy said with some effort, his voiced hindered by his muzzle. "And more power, too!"

SLADE approached the smaller teen slowly, his arms behind his back. "I don't suppose you have any _empirical_ evidence to back up this claim? Or should I chock this up to the gallon of _medication_ in your system?"

"I don't know what 'empirical' means, but I have _proof_." BeastBoy said defiantly, his edge lost in the muzzle.

"Do _tell._" SLADE said, kneeling down as if he were addressing a toddler.

'_Be CAREFUL, BeastBoy…'_ Raven thought to herself.

"You got your real body back after the world ended, right?" BeastBoy asked.

"Among other things. Your _point_?" SLADE said, his patience wavering.

"Raven is part demon, but she's also human. And _every_ human being has a heart." BeastBoy said, puffing out his chest for emphasis. "But only a few people have a _responsibility_ to their hearts."

"Very moving." SLADE mocked, his mask inches from BeastBoy. "But you'll forgive me if I do not see a correlation between that _statement_ and your belief that Raven is more intelligent than _I_."

BeastBoy stood up to his full height, his forehead even with SLADE's chest. He did his best not to topple over backward from the weight. "Raven _knows _what it means to listen to her herself. Sure, she can be _bossy_, and _mean_, and doesn't always get a good joke when she hears one…"

Raven felt a twinge of annoyance, but kept listening.

"…but she knows the difference between right and wrong, truth and lies, good and evil. She's practically _lived _it. And it hasn't been easy. Her heritage, her father, _you,…_all you can see in her is the _power_ she was born with."

Raven fell still.

"She saved the world because she realized that her first duty was to herself, and to the people she loves. Not because she was some crazy-powerful demon…" BeastBoy said. "But because she knows that she has a burden as human being."

SLADE put his arms at his sides, his eye narrowing. "Is there a _moral_ in this pearl of wisdom?"

"Your responsibility is to your ambition; to _yourself_." BeastBoy said, his eyes ever so sharp now. "And because of that, you'll _never_ understand the burden of a human heart. The power, the pain, the frustrating stuff that comes and goes and never makes sense…"

SLADE listened.

"…all of it is so far beyond you, you can't even see it. And even if you could, you couldn't understand it; you couldn't _handle_ what she has to deal with." BeastBoy ranted, looking towards Raven in the harsh light.

"You're not _smart_ enough to get it, SLADE." BB finished. "And you're too _weak_ to handle that burden. It's out of your _league_."

SLADE was silent.

Raven's emotions, however, were not. _'Ouch. Sucker-punched him, huh?' _Bravery said.

'_SLADE looks angrier than usual.' _Timid winced.

'_Who knew the kid had it in him to hit in the soft-spot?' _Mischief wondered.

'_I believe that's checkmate.' _Knowledge said. _'For now.' _

With exception of the computer equipment and the powerful lighting in the room, nothing made a sound. The Titans sat in silence, their eyes glued to BeastBoy and SLADE. The imposing madman had the boy shackled, drugged, and totally at his mercy, whereas BeastBoy had his wits (Or lack there of) his morals, and his cutting insight. Robin was down for the count, Cyborg was seriously busted, Starfire was star-bolt-less, and Raven had no chance of shielding the green-teen. He was standing alone.

Raven was on pins and needles; very few who have called SLADE a _weakling_ have lived to tell about it.

"You're correct. The moral _liabilities_ and _conscientious decisions_ of the human heart often obscure and hinder a person's ability to make productive decisions, especially when concerned with priorities." SLADE said, slow and measured.

'_Does that mean I'm right?' _BeastBoy thought to Raven. Whether she heard him or not, it didn't matter; she couldn't have responded anyway.

"Fortunately, the young woman whom I have assigned to kill all of you _has _no such hindrances." SLADE said, just before reaching up and pressing a small button on his forearm.

The sudden change of air pressure in the room made Raven's ears pop. Her hair fluttered around her face as if caught in a brisk wind, her cape following suit. She could feel the hairs on her arms stand on end, the sweat on her face suddenly cold.

'_What's going on?' _she asked no one. Raven looked around the room.

The lights above her head had suddenly dimmed, the deep shadows in the room less consuming than before. She saw BeastBoy gawking at the drastic change in the atmosphere around them, all his animal senses buzzing within him. Cyborg looked equally confused, as did the pair of huddling lovers who sat before her. Raven's companions knew something was coming; no one knew _what_.

The ceiling, some twenty-five feet above Raven's head, suddenly became visible. It was curved, looking like the inside of a giant ice-cream scoop. The sound of hydraulics filled the room, sending vibrations through the air.

Like the sections of an orange, the roof split, and began to peel away one piece at a time. Raven could smell fresh air-or at least fresh_er_ air-as it poured in between the spaces in the ceiling. The cold draft smelled sterile and dry, much like the air that flows from a freshly opened refrigerator. Steam began to radiate from the warmer places upon Raven's skin.

"What _is _this…?" Cyborg asked, his voice hoarse.

The large slices of the ceiling, including the segments that sported the huge light fixtures, slowly slid into the floor. A new light, soft and gray, hung in the air with the mist. It cast soft shadows all about the floor, SLADE's throne further amplified in grandeur as a result.

"This is _bad, _isn't it?" BeastBoy asked.

Lights, dull and yellow, dotted the area around the five teens in a massive circle. They encompassed SLADE and his raised throne, arranged in specific patterns and intervals. Raven felt as though she were surrounded by hundreds of unblinking eyes, all of them too close together to be discerned from one another.

_**VOOOM-VOOOM-VOOOM…**_

More holographic screens, similar to the ones that orbited around the peak of SLADE's perch, sprung up in the same circular pattern, each as tall and as long as a checkered cab. The cryptic 'S' insignia was displayed upon all of them, the radiant energy adding more light to the significantly enlarged chamber.

The humming suddenly stopped. The misty air hung motionless as the room became silent again, save for the beating hearts and shallow breaths of the five teens.

/SECTOR 01A TRANSFIGURATION PROCESS COMPLETE/ came a feminine computer announcement.

"Vent atmosphere coolant and stand by." SLADE commanded, his posture unchanged.

A second later, the mist that had covered the floor of the room was sucked out through hidden ducts in the hidden corners of the room. The temperature change was abrupt, but not entirely unpleasant; Raven was beginning to feel warm again.

"Welcome to Primary Ops, Titans." SLADE said, his voice filled with pride. "It is from _this_ room that this entire facility is governed, as well as the control systems that determine how _comfortable_ you remain for the duration of your stay."

SLADE minions were suddenly everywhere, dashing back and forth between computer stations and command posts. The rhythmic thudding of their android feet upon the floor could be followed anywhere in the room, the liquid-fast motion of their fingers upon the keys changing the various displays with mechanical precision.

'_No wonder he has a thing for gears. He has everything running like a Swish watch.' _Raven thought.

"The timing for our rendezvous could not have been better." SLADE said, absentmindedly walking towards a random programming terminal. "I had hoped you all would arrive in time to see this."

He turned around suddenly. "But first, let us _remove_ that monstrous bit from your mouth, shall we BeastBoy? I don't think it will be necessary any longer."

Two minions approached from BeastBoy's rear, each carrying a hefty, pincher shaped tool. A crank from behind the main assembly, and the huge pinchers opened, clamped themselves around BeastBoy's mouth harness, and bit, loudly, through his chains.

The huge face-mask fell to the ground with a dull thud, just before it was hoistedup by the two drones, and taken away. BeastBoy flexed his jaw, cracking a few joints, his face still a set line of distrust. "You want a 'thank you'?"

"I've come to realize that expecting gratitude from _any _of the five of you is an exercise in futility," SLADE stated, walking back towards the group. "But not to worry. I'll soon receive what I want from you."

"And what is _that_ supposed to mean?" Raven asked, uncomfortable with how close SLADE was getting to BeastBoy.

"All good things to those who _wait._" SLADE insisted, his eye suddenly fixated on BB. "Oh, and BeastBoy?"

BB narrowed his gaze at the masked man.

"I have someone here that I'd like you to _meet._" SLADE whispered.

/EXTRACTION PROCESS COMMENCING/ boomed the now familiar computer voice.

The already vigorous activity taking place in the now _larger _room seemed to increase several fold. Minions were not just briskly walking from station; they were flat out _running_ now, as if afraid of being caught in the middle of some approaching trouble. SLADE, an island amidst a boiling sea, stood his ground, positively _grinning_ with his posture.

/GESTATION CHAMBER RELEASED. AWAITING COMMAND/ the voice continued.

"Re-route _primary regulatory controls_ to Ops command station zero one." SLADE said.

A piece of the floor, rectangular in shape and no bigger than lap-top, slid out of the way, not four feet from where BeastBoy stood. A flat, metal key-pad appeared from a hidden compartment in the floor, perched atop a hefty looking mass-storage-unit. It sprouted upwards like a mechanical sunflower, stopping when it was level with SLADE's dangling hand.

"_What are you doing?_" Robin demanded, now kneeling next to Starfire. SLADE didn't answer.

**_RRRRRRRRUUMMMMMMBLE-_TOOM!**

The impressive stone staircase, directly behind SLADE, slowly began to disappear, starting with the bottom step. Like an ancient Aztecan trap-door, the stairs began to slide into the floor, one at a time, leaving the conical platform and throne in their original places. The heavy, moving-marble filled the room with the sound of rolling boulders, the remaining space growing steadily larger in the absence of the stairs.

'_Always with the theatrics.' _Raven thought.

/SUBJECT STABILIZED. SYSTEM CONTROLS ACTIVE/

"Prepare neural-regression program. Stand-by." SLADE order, quickly typing out several unseen commands upon the small key-pad to his left.

**TOOM!**

The final, and tallest stair, fell into place. The result was a loud thudding noise, and a gaping, twenty foot hole in the side of the conical platform. A glow, blue-green in color, could be seen within, as well as something tall and shiny.

**Riri-riri-riri-riri-riri-riri-riri-riri…**

The sound of several hundred tiny treads could be heard squeaking across the slick stone of the folded stairwell. They scooted forward, bearing a massive cargo between the two sets of turning skids. A cylinder, draped with wiring and electrical nodes, filled to the brim with a clear substance, was being dragged outwards from a hidden chamber beneath SLADE's throne. Several large gaskets and pumps could be seen at the base of said cylinder, each inflating and deflating, exhaling gasses and other substances, moving with the rhythmic certainty of a heartbeat.

All of this was lost to the Titans, however. They were far more interested with the tanks _occupant. _

"I _cannot _be **seeing** this…" Starfire whispered.

"What has he _done_…?" Cyborg added.

**THUNK!**

Rave tore her gaze away long enough to see BeastBoy fall to the ground, his face as hollow as a rotting tree. His legs had given way under the magnitude of what he was witnessing, his muscles suddenly unable to perform.

Raven looked back at the tank.

The person was female, nude, and suspended by a sizeable number of life-support cables. Her body appeared no older in development than Raven's, and her skin was just as pale. She bobbed up and down in the clear solution like a message in a bottle, her arms and legs limp.

The hair was as white as babies-breath. The face was round and expressionless. The aura was powerful.

The _eyes _were _Terra's. _

'_I know what you're thinking, Raven…,' _SLADE said, his voice unexpectedly intruding into Raven's perplexed mind. _'And you're not even **close**.' _

"_Titan's_," the madman announced in his real voice, gesturing to the young woman. "I would like you to meet your _unequivocal_ equal, and _executioner_. Her name is **Requiem." **


	17. Hybrid

_I think we have maybe six or seven chapters to go, folks. This one was a brain-twister to write, but the next will answer nearly every question, I promise. Also, I would ask all of those who read my story to please review, even if it's just a short blurb. All of them are greatly appreciated, this I swear. Also, a bit more violence in this chapter, just F.Y.I.. I do hope you will find it to your liking. Until next time, please read, review, and enjoy!_

Disclaimer: Teen Titan's Movie scheduled to come out in the fall! WishI was a part of it...but I'm not, nor do I _own_ it or anything _else_ witha DC logo on it.

**Chap. 17: Hybrid**

It was like the school yard all over again: the same recognition, the same perplexing feelings, the same sense of hope…

…and the same sense of loss.

"T-…_Terra?_" BeastBoy stuttered, his lips barely moving.

SLADE had heard BB though, addressing him as he walked towards the tank. "You would _desperately _hope for that to be true. I can tell."

The young woman, apparently in suspended animation, had a very flat expression upon her face. That aside, she was a paler version of Terra, her hair the soft white of daisy petals. The shape of her arms, the roundness of her face…it was all _Terra's_.

SLADE, of course, was quick to snap him out of his delusion; in the cruelest way possible. "I'm afraid Terra was an _insect _compared to this _treasure_ of mine. A mere _amateur_ in the shadow of an _artist_."

BeastBoy regarded the mask man with a look he usually reserved for dog-crap upon his shoe. "_You didn't know a THING about her_…"

"I knew she wasn't up to _par_." SLADE said, stroking the smooth glass of the tall chamber. "Not to mention how _fleeting _her loyalties were. Honestly, a dog should never _bite_ the hand that feeds it."

SLADE looked at Robin. "It's become a common _trait_ of those whom I take under my wing."

"So you _cloned _her? _Why?_" Raven asked, still studying the nude young woman.

"Ah, but you see, you already assume too _much_." SLADE said, his gaze once more upon the dark goddess. "Requiem is no mere _clone_; she is a _masterpiece_."

BeastBoy watched as SLADE returned to his small key-board, typed in another command, and stepped back. He folded his arms across his chest, his posture unreadable, and waited.

The various wires strewn about the tank began to glow and fluctuate in a vibrant manner. Blue-green electricity began coursing through the liquid within the tank, the metal rings upon the glass conducting every bolt. A dull throbbing sensation could be felt pulsating through the ground, causing the chains upon BeastBoy's limbs to feel heavier and heavier.

/ELECTRO-MAGNETIC IONIZATION COMMENCING/ the computerized voice informed.

BB watched, with great anxiety, as the liquid within the tank began to drain. It seemed to be swirling away into the floor, a small whirlpool now visible at the young woman's feet. While all the wiring still remained, the tank was soon empty of all the sustaining fluid which it once held.

"Remove gestation container." SLADE ordered.

There were several small popping noises, much like the discharges from a toy cap gun. Tubing and neural stimulation nodes were ejecting themselves from the skin of the unclad woman, to hang harmlessly on the sides of the tank. Her body would jerk and spasm as the monitoring equipment removed itself from her pale tissue. Once she was completely unplugged, the top of the tank released the two hoisting cables around her shoulders. The body collapsed to the floor.

**TUM-tum-TUM-tum…**

The Titans jerked their heads to the right, just as another huge Atlas drone appeared from a dark corner in the room. BeastBoy was slightly confused, until the huge robot placed its large hands upon the sides of the tank, and twisted. Like a large bottle-cap, the tank released from its mobile platform with a puff of steam, to be lifted completely away by the huge metal soldier.

Starfire held her nose as a noxious odor assaulted her senses. "Such a _stench_…"

SLADE approached the young woman as the Atlas drone marched away. "The protein solution was _more_ than adequate to sustain Requiem during her development."

He knelt at the blank-eyed woman's side, appraising her naked body for an uncomfortably extended amount of time. "And she is _certainly_ DEVELOPED."

BeastBoy and Raven resisted the urge to vomit.

"You're _sick_." Robin said, standing at his full height again. "She's a _child _for god's sake…"

"Wrong again." SLADE countered, standing again. "Requiem is far more _complex_ than any child. The exhaustive process that was her _creation_ is a testament to that."

SLADE addressed each Titan with his eye. "Besides, it would be an insult to you _all_ if I simply dubbed this creation a _human_. After all, _none_ of _**you**_ are completely human."

Cyborg was about to present a cutting rebuttal, but he caught himself. "_Wait_…why would you say _that_?"

SLADE looked at the busted-up former athlete. "My, you _are_ faster than you look."

Two more SLADE minions approached from behind the young girl, and gently lifted her into the air. A third approached, holding several black pieces of clothing. The clothing seemed to be sporting over fifty copper-colored spikes of metal, each hanging like tinsel upon the dark material.

The robot began to deftly dress the young woman, her eyes never closing, her body as limp as a cooked noodle. Once it was finished, the same minion approached SLADE, and placed a cylinder shaped piece of dark blue metal, with a glove at one end, into his open hand.

BB watched the minions set the girl down in a sitting position as SLADE spoke.

"Requiem is a compilation of _several_ different attributes, all of which essential to her creation…" SLADE lectured, pride flowing through his voice with an undercurrent of suspense. "…and all of which are _particular_ to certain _persons_ in this room."

The masked criminal raised the piece of metal, and slipped his hand through the opening on one side, his hand filling the silver glove at the other end. He flexed his fingers, getting a feel for his new piece of technology, before setting his hand at his side again.

"Terra was the _first_ to make a 'donation', whether she knew it or not."

SLADE let that concept sink in for a moment.

That was all Cyborg needed.

"_No_ way. Not a _chance_." The large teen refuted, shaking his head. "You can't have all of our DNA in her. It's not _possible_."

"I'm with Cy; couldn't happen." BeastBoy agreed.

SLADE walked towards the green teenager, and then stood to one side, looking at Requiem's sitting body. He placed his head very close to BeastBoy's, close enough for BB to smell the sweat on his brow, before placing his fingers upon the changelings' cheeks.

He pointed BB's head towards the pale young woman. "Tell me, BeastBoy: is there _anything_ about her face that is NOT Terra's?"

Struggling against the mans grip was useless, so BB looked. He examined the blue eyes, the tall cheek-bones, the set line of her mouth…

…_the set line of her mouth_…

"_Raven…?_"

"And _Starfire_…and _Cyborg_…_Robin_…even _you._" SLADE whispered, his breathing slow. "You are all a _part_ of her, in _one_ way or _another_."

"Get your hands _off _of him!" Raven exclaimed, moving closer to the pair. The fact that she was distressed about how much BeastBoy was paying attention to Requiems' appearance did not sway her from the fact that SLADE should _not _be touching BeastBoy; _ever._

"You see it _too_, Raven." SLADE said. "And you can _sense_ it; the _uncertainty_, the faint psychic _familiarity_, the distorted _brain-wave_ pattern…all of it proves what I say, doesn't it?"

BeastBoy felt faint. His mind was beginning to pick up certain nuisances from the young girl, certain traces of recognizable features that he didn't notice before.

'_Is he telling the truth?' _BeastBoy kept repeating in his head.

"_How_?" Robin demanded.

SLADE released the elf and walked back to the center of the room, admiring the young girl, before turning back to look at the five aghast faces.

"As invincible as you _think _you are, the five of you are actually quite _mortal_." SLADE began. "And, as a result, injuries and accidents are _bound_ to happen."

He looked at Robin when he spoke next. "While _some_ DNA samples were readily available at one time or another, others required more…_drastic _means of acquisition."

It clicked in Robins' head a moment later. "The _nano-machines_…"

"_Always_ have a contingency plan, dear boy." SLADE said, tapping his temple with one finger. "You see, I recognized the _possibility_ that you might not cooperate as you were instructed when I began your tutelage. Therefore, I _prepared_ for it."

SLADE walked back to where Requiem lay. "It took nearly a _year_, but I was eventually able to map the genome of _every_ original Titan. The information sent back to me by my machines was _quite_ useful."

"But information is not _enough_…" Starfire began.

"Correct, your _highness." _SLADE mocked again. "An actual sample of DNA is necessary. Fortunately, it was easy enough to collect samples."

Raven countered SLADE before he could continue. "We have a _private_ physician, and he would _never_-"

"A claw from a _green three-toed sloth_ here…a bloody _apprentice'_ uniform there…various samples of _saliva_ strewn throughout the city upon pieces of _bitten light-poles_…" SLADE said slowly, listing each in its entirety. "All there for the _taking_."

BeastBoy felt new wave of anger rise within him. "And I suppose you stole DNA from Raven while she _slept_? I wouldn't put it past a _leech_ like you."

"Why would I go to all the _trouble_?" SLADE asked, giving Raven a side-long glance. "She provided me with all the genetic material I needed when I delivered a very _special _message to her. You remember _that_ night, don't you Raven?"

What Raven would have given to squish SLADE's head like a corn-kernel between her fingers. "You _stole _my _blood_…my _identity_…"

SLADE shook his head. "I _delivered_ something to you, and took something for _myself_. I considered it a fair trade."

Starfire came to the defense of her stricken friend. "You _violated _her! _Shattered_ her trust in herself! Made her _question_ whether or not she was a good _person_…"

"_Demon_," SLADE corrected viciously, looking directly at Star. "And I never made her question _that_. I actually _enjoyed_ reminding her of her heritage…unlike those who have turned their _back_ upon their own."

Starfire felt even more insulted, her outrage plastered across her damaged face. "I have never _once_ turned my back upon my _people_…!"

"Oh?" SLADE inquired, raising his newly gloved hand. "The person who provided me with a fresh sample of _your_ DNA presented a _convincing_ argument to the _contrary_."

**PING! _TUCK-TUCK-TUCK…_**

The sound of a large spool uncoiling could be heard from above the five chained figures. BeastBoy could vaguely make out something large…_very_ large…as it descended from the brightly lit ceiling. It appeared to be a three-dimensional rectangle, made of something transparent. It was hanging, the shorter sides level with the ground, by four bulky winches, which were lowering it downwards.

SLADE seemed to be in control of the rectangles decent, his right arm pointed upwards. The broad, flat piece of metal that covered his upper forearm to his wrist would flicker with random segments of light, each crossing the glove in pre-determined patterns.

"I believe the two of you are _acquainted_, Starfire?" SLADE asked, the rectangular block nearly flat against the floor.

BeastBoy attempted a closer look at the nearly see-through block. It was a whitish-blue in color, and foggy in different places. Mist was collecting near the bottom of the block. It almost looked like ice, with the exception that it _smelled _all wrong.

BeastBoy was suddenly looking at a set of pearly white teeth, bared in _ferocious_ manner. "_Holy_ mother of-!"

"Not _mother_," SLADE said, using his other hand to wipe away a layer a frost that had collected upon one side of the block. "_Sister._"

Starfire began walking forward, gently but firmly removing herself from the grasp of her new-found love. Her brow was knit in an inquisitive fashion, her hand reaching out to try and touch the cold block, just beyond her reach. Her bright green eyes studied the face which bore the gnarled teeth, steadily opening as they did.

"…_Blackfire?_"

"In the _flesh._" SLADE confirmed, examining former heir to the Tamaranian throne. "Prisoner _Zero One_."

Starfire's sister was indeed imprisoned within this large, smooth slab of ice, or something close to it. Her right arm was raised above her head, her face in a defiant glare. She seemed to be in mid flight, her hair splayed out behind her as if blown by a fierce wind. Her eyes were blazing, as they always looked when she was engaged in battle…

'_Wait…'_ Starfire thought. _'Not always…not like THIS…' _

"Why have you changed the color of her _hair_ and _eyes?_ Why have you made her look like…_me_?" Starfire asked.

"A _necessary_ evil, I assure you." SLADE said, waving the comment aside. "Dyeing a young girl's hair and eyes is _tedious_, but much easier than _convincing_ her to bring me a trace of _her _sisters DNA. But then, a battle for the crown must be _intense_. Who would _notice_ a few splatters of blood here and there?"

"Blackfire would never…_do _such a thing." Starfire started, not believing her own argument. The semantics of the idea were difficult to swallow, but not beyond the range of possibility.

"For the right price, _any _person will do any _thing_." SLADE said darkly, looking from BeastBoy to Robin. "Even if it means betraying one's _flesh_ and _blood_…or _friends._"

Both Titans caught the innuendo, and their anger flared in unison for a moment.

"Terra _repented_, and Robin only followed your orders under extreme _duress_." Raven said, coming to the boys' defense. "_Neither_ of them are traitors!"

"_Blackfire_ believes that Starfire _is_," SLADE said maliciously, "And was all too happy to sell her sister down the river; an impressive amount of _hate_ for a spoiled little _brat_. It's her own fault that she didn't _see_ my double-cross…or the photo-cryonic _cannon_ that imprisoned her."

"She will _SUFFOCATE_…" Starfire said, alarmed. She once more began pulling at her bonds.

"_Relax_, dear child. She is merely in a cryogenic _suspension_. I have no need to _kill_ my most valuable piece of _leverage_…_yet._" SLADE hissed, just before turning towards one of his underlings. "Has the _pulse_ emitter been activated?"

The skinny machine gave a single, confirming nod, before walking back to his station. When he returned to SLADE's side, he was holding a CD sized rounded circuit board. The dark green and gold material sparkled slightly, catching the light from above, sending little reflections to dance across the slick ice of Blackfire's stasis block.

"Capturing your _noisy_ older sibling was no easy feet; that should _please_ you." SLADE continued as he slipped the control circuits into his new arm band. "The freezing process removes and _controls_ ambient photo-energetic rays, allowing your own sisters _energy_ to sustain her frozen state."

CLICK!

SLADE pointed his arm upwards again, allowing the new information to download into his gauntlet. He looked at Starfire. "I thought it fitting that your sisters' _arrogance _should serve as the _noose_ around her neck. It's almost _poetic_."

"She's still a _saint_ compared to _you_!" Raven spat.

"Perhaps. But even _saintly _DNA is incompatible with the reconstitution process used to create Requiem." SLADE said, gazing at the newly dressed girl. "_Jinx, _on the other hand…"

Cyborgs chains began to creak again, as he pulled slightly harder upon them. His memory regarding a certain surgical injury was becoming clearer now. "Why Jinx? Why _her_ blood?"

"A _catalyst_, my bionic friend." SLADE said venomously. "It served as the final, unifying agent in my symbiosis procedure. You see, as much as you _want _to believe that your hex-casting delinquent is now one of the 'good guys', the _negative_, dominant alleles that comprise the primary genetic source of her magical abilities are the _perfect_ counter-source to all the positively influenced codes in _your_ DNA. She _balanced the scale_, so to speak. _Without_ her, or someone just like, Requiem may have remained a genetic _theory_."

"That…_thing _over there is nothing more than your failed attempt at playing _god_." Robin said, a little more gusto in his speech now. "A sick _bastardization_ of our gifts, compiled in a pitiable mass of flesh."

"Such _strong _words. I'd be _careful_ about what I say around Requiem, dear boy. You may hurt her feelings." SLADE said, just as his new accessory began to glow. "If she _had _any."

The Titans watched as every small copper wire upon Requiem's new garments, big and small, disappeared inwards. Every single wire retracted at once, causing a harsh gasp to escape the pale woman's mouth. Her eyes, so much like Terra's, grew wide in a pained shock. Her chest suddenly thrust skyward, as if a fishing-line were attached to her ribs, and was slowly pulling her off the floor. Tiny trickles of blood could be seen running down Requiem's legs, her arms still dangling lifelessly at her sides.

The pained expression, however, never left her face. Even as she subconsciously stood upon her own feet, her face remained as stricken as ever.

Apparently, the look was contagious. BeastBoy sported the same appearance. "_What are you DOING to her?" _

"Her suit is the latest in neural-synaptic manipulation technology. With the exception of a few automatic brain functions, I am in _complete_ control of Requiem's body, and _abilities_." SLADE said in a victorious tone. "All her power, all her _speed_, all that makes her a **weapon**…_mine_."

"You created a puppet. An _imitation_ of a Titan." Raven said spitefully, her face hot.

"Oh, I beg to _differ_." SLADE said, watching carefully as Requiem's face softened, returning to its original, flat demeanor. "She is far more impressive than _any_ of the originals. Cyborgs biological armor integration technology has given her nearly impenetrable skin and incredible strength. BeastBoy's regenerative capabilities will heal any lesion, and the combination of your, Starfire, and Jinx's _energy_ and _telekinetic _abilities have given Requiem nearly limitless power. Even Robin's extensive, though _incomplete_, fighting strategies have been incorporated. She is…_perfect._"

"You mean she can stand to be around _you_ for more than ten seconds?" BeastBoy leered, a tiny smirk upon his face. "You're right; _none_ of the 'originals' can say that. You must have built in one _hell_ of a strong stomach."

SLADE stopped his movements for a second, just long enough to turn his head _very _slowly towards BB. Raven kept tabs on him, but also paid _particular_ attention to Requiem. She had leisurely walked, barefoot, to SLADE's side, standing at perfect attention. Her clothing, covering her shoulders and upper body in a football-armor fashion, extended downwards, to cover both of her upper legs and torso. Her stomach, pale as snow, was exposed, as were her forearms and head.

The look that the two of them gave BeastBoy made Raven shiver.

"You know, collecting the requisite DNA from your team-mates was relatively _easy_." SLADE said softly, placing a hand under the chin of the small girl. "_Terra, _however, was a bit more…_uncooperative._"

BeastBoy's face twitched slightly; just enough for SLADE to know that he was poking BB in a tender area.

"You should have _been_ there, BeastBoy," SLADE continued, almost petting the white haired girl. "You should have seen how _hard_ she fought, even when she had no control. Her tears _stained_ the floor of my lair as she _begged_ me to release her; to set her free. It was _pathetic_."

Another twitch; a slight quiver of his green jaw.

"Leave him _alone_." Raven warned.

"_You_ know what I'm talking about, _Raven_." SLADE said, looking between the two Titans for a moment. "We had a _similar_ encounter, you and I. Has she ever told you the _details_, BeastBoy? Has she ever shared with you what _really _happened…the night of her _birthday_?"

BeastBoy hesitated for a second, his eyes suddenly fixated on Raven.

But SLADE's words continued to dance in BB's ears. "If she had, she would have told you about her _vision_; about the fire of my touch upon her skin. I'm sure she remembers it _well_."

Raven sensed a slight shift in BeastBoy's human aura.

"The _chase_, the _exhilaration_ of all that _power_, _forcing_ Raven to take in the breathtaking sight of Jump City reduced to a wasteland of _petrified _flesh and _smoldering_ decay…"

SLADE stopped for a moment, drawing in a huge, chest-filling breath, as if he had just surfaced for air.

"I can still smell the _brimstone_." He whispered, almost reverently.

The air seemed to grow stale.

"I learned a great many things from both of your comrades, BeastBoy. Aside from their _inability_ to accept their destinies and their _detestable_ loyalties to your team, I discovered something…_pleasing_." SLADE continued, still stroking Requiems hair.

BeastBoy's fang was beginning to dig into his upper lip; his jaw was clenched too tight.

"And what is _that_?" Starfire asked, her eyes hard.

"This may surprise you, but Raven and Terra share something in _common_." SLADE said, before lowering his face to within an inch of BeastBoy's, his voice a vipers whisper.

"_Both_ of them are _screamers_."

"…!..."

"…!..."

"…!..."

"Aw…_SNAP!_" Cyborg whispered.

**_HUURRRRRR-_RRRRROOOAARRR!**

_**TING! POW!**_

Raven ducked instinctively as a large piece of metal shrapnel came flying past her head. It, along with several other shards of BeastBoy's shattered manacles, were sent careening in all directions; some flew upwards and out of sight, some bored into any unlucky stationery drone, others were imbedded into the throng of electrical equipment that surrounded the five shackled titans.

Well…_four_.

"_BeastBoy, no! **STOP!**" _Raven yelled, her hands waving wildly above her heard. But it was too late.

BeastBoy's restraints had literally _burst _from around his writs and ankles. While the collar with the red tether had remained in place, BeastBoy had grown too enormous for his other bindings to hold him; the same could be said for the floor, which had begun cracking like Plexiglas as soon as BeastBoy had begun his transformation.

_**BOOM! BOOM!**_

BeastBoy took two huge steps forward, his shadow engulfing SLADE and his slightly smaller cohort. The massive claws upon BB's feet dug into the cement as if it were nothing but dry mud, the huge cracks webbing outwards like the architecture of a giant arachnid.

The forty foot tail of the Tyrannosaurus waved back and forth, causing small wind currents to kick up in the relatively confined space. Starfire crouched upon the floor with Robin, covering his damaged head with one hand and protecting her own head with the other. Cyborg had fallen upon his rump, his eyes bugging outwards at the shear size of the creature before him. Raven had fallen to her knees again, her hands over her ears to protect them from the devastating sound waves of BeastBoy's roar.

**_RRRRR-_OOOAARRROOOOAAAMM! **

'_T-Rex's don't get this **big**. What the heck is goin **on**?' _Raven wondered, generally awestruck at the sight of BeastBoy's morph.

SLADE and Requiem looked upwards as BeastBoy's head, now the size of a BMW, lowered towards them. The sword-sized teeth and saucer-sized nostrils were two feet from the pair of villains, the tunnel-like mouth threatening to swallow them whole.

The only movement that SLADE made was to clench his right fist, and look at his creation. "_Requiem?_"

Time…_stopped._

At least, it did for Raven.

The dark young woman lost all interest in the seventy-five foot Tyrannosaur the _second_ that SLADE uttered his command. Raven wasn't sure if it was the glowing eyes or the sudden surge of telepathic energy that caught her attention first, but it was _caught. _Raven no longer watched the splintering floor or the massive thunder-lizard that stood above her; not because they weren't impressive, but because they all seemed to be moving far too _slow. _

Compared to Requiems _speed_, the rest of the room seemed to be freezing in place.

**_Ker-_POOOOOWWWW!**

Somehow, Requiem had literally _shot_ through the air, past BeastBoy's gaping portcullis of teeth, and punched him square in his dinosaur chest; _hard_.

If Raven had blinked, she would have missed it. BeastBoy certainly had.

"_LOOK OUT!" _

"_Hit the deck!" _

**_FFFFFWW_-OOOOOOOOOOOSH!**

All thirty-plus tons of BeastBoy's mass had been catapulted off the ground, the talons upon his feet actually _ripped _from the cement which they impaled. His gargantuan body soared effortlessly through the air like a scaly green cloud, doubled over from the cannon-like impact of Requiem's strike. The tether flew with him, still attached to the ground, feeding outwards like a line on a hooked bass.

Requiem still floated in mid-air, her eyes just as empty as before, her fist still thrust forward, her hair floating about her head as if caught in an updraft. She would have looked like an angel…if it weren't for her sickeningly satisfied _smile. _

Raven nearly fainted from the psychic tremors that filled the room. They coursed up and down her body, her muscles twitching and her breathing erratic. She clutched at her own breast, attempting to relocate her pulse. She couldn't remember the last time she had blinked, her eyes still fixated upon the white-haired woman who levitated before her.

'_Such…POWER.' _Her mind kept repeating.

**_Ba-Ba-_BOOOOOOOMMMMMMM! **

BeastBoy finally landed some fifty feet behind Raven, his body crushing a nearby workstation. Sparks flew and wires danced from BeastBoy's impact, his impressive bulk lying in a heap. His surf-board sized tongue lolled out of his mouth to rest upon an imploded display screen, his tale crushing two drones that had no time to flee.

The entire episode-BeastBoy's revolutionary transformation…Requiem's unseen attack…the flying tyrant king of lizards-all of it took place is the space of fifteen seconds.

When time decided to resume once more, SLADE was still where he stood, his body unmoved, his psychotically-powerful new creation back at his side.

"Game…set…_match._" SLADE whispered slowly, his hand once more caressing Requiem's pearly hair.

"_BEASTBOY!" _Raven yelled.

"Jesus, _no…wake UP, man!_" Cyborg joined.

Raven looked down, then at Cy, her mind racing. "Cy, _help me_!"

Cyborg took notice of Raven and what she wanted him to do. Without a word, he shifted closer to Raven, raised his huge fists as high as he could, and brought them downwards like an axe blade.

**BANG!**

**SNAP!**

Cyborg could not escape from _his_ specially designed bonds, but he was _more_ than strong enough to release Raven from _hers_.

"I'm _coming_, BeastBoy..._wake UP!_" Raven hollered as she ran, her strength suddenly renewed after she kicked off her broken chains.

As she approached the totally destroyed computer control consoles, Raven could see BeastBoy slowly melt back into his original form. The oversized dinosaur was shrinking, the exaggerated limbs becoming the gangly arms and legs of the green teenager. His body lay at an angle across the sizzling circuitry and flattened key-boards, his mouth still open.

Raven scooped the nearly weightless teen off of the wreckage, her eyes darting back and forth wildly over his ripped uniform. Setting him upon the crumpled floor, Raven used both of her hands to shred open BB's shirt, checking for broken bones or bleeding lacerations.

Finding none upon his chest, Raven held BeastBoy to her own, her ears drinking in the sound of his weak, but _steady_, breathing.

"_What in the world is WRONG with you?"_ Raven whispered harshly through her tears, clutching BeastBoy like a life-preserver in a tossing sea. _"You're so STUPID…stupid stupid stupid **stupid…**"_

Her eyes drifted towards SLADE, who had not moved. His eye remained narrowed and his fist clenched, but his body was the epitome of calm.

He knew that Raven was no threat. "As you can see, Raven, BeastBoy has experienced _exactly_ what Requiem is capable of, even if it was merely one percent of her true strength. Her genetic make-up contains a _plethora_ of your powers, with none of the _limitations_ that the five of you have grown accustomed to."

The masked man stepped away from Requiem, absentmindedly pressing another set of commands into his arm-band as he re-ascended the newly replaced stairs of his thrown. He sat slowly in his large black chair, placing one leg over the other, as if he were about to read the morning paper.

But now he addressed the fallen one. "I know you're awake, BeastBoy. And I know you can hear me."

Raven felt an odd tug at her shoulder, and raised her head just enough to look into the now open eyes of her battered friend. His cocky smile, more for her benefit than for his, emptied the chilled breath in her lungs.

Raven felt one-hundred pounds lighter when she _finally _felt BeastBoy return her hug. She couldn't smile, but her heart sang.

"Don't you _ever _scare me like that _again!_" Raven whispered firmly into BeastBoy's ear, allowing her normally dormant emotions of Concern, Relief, and Affection to surface for a second. "If you do something stupid and end up _dead_, I _swear_ I will _kill_ you!"

BeastBoy coughed into his hand, causing Raven even greater stress when she witnessed the blood upon his glove. But his voice, croaky as it was, calmed her some. "Don't worry. (COUGH) The bus only has to run over me _once_."

"You've noticed Requiem's uniqueness, yes?" SLADE asked, his voice just as acidic as before.

"You mean how she's just as _twisted_ as you?" Robin spat, his face jagged with anger. "_Yeah_, clear as a _bell_."

SLADE counted off of his fingers, as patient as a father with a set of ill-tempered children. "_All_ your powers, _all_ your knowledge, _all_ your genetically encoded experience and intuition…"

He pointed to his chest, just below his left shoulder. "…and _none _of this."

Raven helped BeastBoy to a sitting position, his face alight with realization. "She has no…_heart_?"

"I can _assure_ you, her circulatory system is just as advanced as any _biped_." SLADE said. "But Requiem is not bound by the moral 'righteousness' that forces and directs your actions. Her every _whim_, her every _flicker_ of power is driven by the duties programmed into her. Her only sense of right versus wrong…is _mine_."

"_The perfect weapon_." Robin said, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Your _marionette_ is only trained in the ways of destruction, SLADE. She has no other purpose…she will never be _human_." Starfire asserted, her posture defiant.

SLADE placed his hands at his sides, still collective and serene. "I have no _aspirations_ of humanity for Requiem, _princess_. The surgical and methodical execution of my greatest enemies will _suffice_."

**ZZZZZIP! TWING!**

Another door opened, this time from far beyond SLADE's throne. The Titans all looked up, awaiting whatever perversion of nature that was fast approaching them. The footsteps suggested multiple aggressors, varying in shape and size, marching uniformly towards the five Titans. They held their breath.

Said breaths were quickly exhaled as shock overcame their desire to breath.

Brother Blood, his uniform militaristic in design and his eyes an eerie white, knelt upon one knee before the raised throne of SLADE. His compatriots-Dr. Light, Control Freak, the _original _Atlas, and Dr. Chang-all followed suit. They formed a semi-circle around the base of SLADE's heightened platform, their glowing, crimson eyes downcast.

"What is thy _biding,_ my lord?" Brother Blood inquired, much to Cyborgs alarm.

"Place these five in the holding cells of Detention Block C." SLADE commanded. "Begin final preparations for _discharge_ and _interstellar broadcast_ as soon as TM Quadrant Trajectory 1-9-A is locked. Countdown is scheduled to begin after tomorrow's…_entertainment_."

Raven, BeastBoy, and the rest of the Titans had lost the ability to speak. Robin didn't move, and Cyborg only grunted as the brightly colored, _true_ Atlas slapped some large, glowing handcuffs upon his wrists. Starfire only hung her head in confusion and defeat as she walked past her sister, still frozen in mid-attack, dangling from SLADE's ceiling like a trophy. Raven couldn't look into the bright red of Dr. Light's eyes, focusing instead upon the photo-manipulation equipment which he wore, displaying SLADE's insignia. Control Freak's normally wild red hair had been shortened into an orderly crew-cut design, surprising BeastBoy to his feet, just before he too was placed back in restraints.

SLADE watched with barely contained glee as his captives were lead out of Primary Ops, Requiem never leaving her position upon the now ragged floor. She watched each Titan as they were lead past SLADE, keeping her eyes sharp.

Robin, of course, refused to go quietly.

"This isn't _over_, SLADE!" Robin yelled over his shoulder as he was escorted out of the grand room. "_Not by a long shot!_"

SLADE's voice carried over the frigid air, haunting and deep, reaching Robin's ear just before the large door slid shut.

"You're quite right, _Robin. _This is only the _beginning._"


	18. Respite

_Not quite as along as some of my other chapters, but it has a gooey center for those who will appreciate it. Raven's character is difficult to manage, so I understand if I didn't get her completely right. As for the rest, I think I did OK, and I promise to get another, **longer** chapter up soon. In the mean-time, if you happen to read this story, I would very much appreciate it if you would review it as well. Feedback helps further the story along, especially with the Finale in sight. (And by 'in sight' I mean maybe six or seven more chapters.) As always, please read, review, and enjoy. _

**Chap. 18: Respite **

"Let us _out _of here!" came a piercingly shrill voice.

"They aren't listening, you know that?" said a slightly calmer one.

**_T-CLOP…T-CLOP…T-CLOP…_BANG!**

"That sounded like it hurt." a deeper, farther voice observed.

"I said _open up, _ya walking V.C.R's!" the voice yelled again.

"He is persistent…I suppose that is more _productive_ than despair." a much quieter voice whispered.

**_CLOPCLOP-CLOPCLOP-CLOPCLOP…_BANG!**

"Statistically, he should've knocked himself out by now." a slightly more focused voice stated. "Or at least fallen down."

"It took a ninety story fall to do _that_, remember?" a forceful female voice said.

Raven sat in the corner of a rather cramp titanium alloy cell, her arms and cape wrapped around her huddled legs, watching her cell mate nearly beat himself senseless as he tried to bust down the door before him. So far, a Billy-goat, a yak, an ibex, a wildebeest…even a _rhinoceros_ had had no luck in busting in the eight-inch door that imprisoned the two Titans.

There was no light, save the slight, ever present glow that seemed to hang in the air like a poisonous mist above her head. Raven could only surmise that a phosphorescent powder was lining the walls, super-charged with light when the doors had flown open, continuing to glow after the Titans had been locked inside. For all she knew, the material had been incorporated into the powerful metal when it was forged for these cells. But even that wasn't sufficient enough to degrade the strength of the four surrounding walls; the door didn't sport a single dent.

BeastBoy had his fair share, however. "Haven't you had _enough_ yet?"

The green boy looked back at his cell mate, his eyes wide and full of bewildered stars. He wobbled towards Raven on unsteady legs. "_Ossifer, _I not as _think_ as you _drunk_ I am… _understand _you me?"

"All you're doing is making a bunch of noise. Maybe you should take a _breather_, BB." Robin said, his voice muffled from his distant cell.

"Could not BeastBoy simply become something _larger_ in order to assure his escape?" Starfire asked, her voice hallow.

"Nah, if BB and Raven's cell is anything like mine, he can't get any taller than a _horse_, or he'd crush Rae." Cyborg observed.

"Perhaps something _small_, then? _Microscopic_?" Starfire suggested weakly.

"Nothin' doin'." BeastBoy said, finally coming to a rest at Raven's feet. "The doors are air-_tight_. I can't slip under."

"How the _heck _did you get in my body anyway?" Cyborg chided.

"Didn't you use to _box_? Why can't you just Mohammed Ali this sucker?" BeastBoy shot back.

**BAMBAM-BAM-_BAM!_** came a thunderous report. It sounded as if sledgehammers were pounding away on an ocean-liners hull. Cyborg was putting a good two-thousand pounds of force into his hits, his jabs coming in rapid succession.

"Well?"

"Vibrations, a few scuff marks…and a whole lot of _squat_." Cyborg admitted, retaking his sitting position, holding his battered knuckles. "We're not punching our way out."

Raven looked at the thoroughly exhausted shape-shifter before her. His brow was sweaty despite the cold of the cell, and his breath billowed outwards like smoke. His face seemed to have aged several years in the attempt, making him look as though he were in his early to mid twenties. Of course, it could have been the poor lighting or lack of food and water that was affecting her eyesight. She couldn't tell.

"No psychic powers, no star-bolts, no sonic cannon, no _lock-pick_…" BeastBoy listed, his breathing intensifying for a moment. "I _hate _this."

"And you think we _don't_?" Raven asked, the familiar emotion bubbling up inside her.

"Yeah, man, this is a serious drag for us _too_." Cyborg agreed. "At least you _tasted_ freedom for a second back when you…what exactly _did _you do back there?"

"I cannot recall the last time you expressed such…_outrage_." Starfire added from her cell, looking for the right vocabulary word. "It was an unusually…_potent _emotional state."

"BeastBoy, why didn't you _tell_ us that you could vary the size of your respective morphs? I'm never seen it during our training sessions." Robin asked, sitting back down next to Starfire in their darkened jail-cell.

BeastBoy was becoming uncomfortable again. Raven could barely make him out with her eyes, but she could sense every hair that rose upon his neck, every quickening heartbeat. The incident some hours earlier had seriously disrupted his emotional state, and the fact that he had been bull-rushed in mid-attack by that white haired…_whatever_ she is…had messed with his physical condition as well. Her built-in emotional radar told her that something was bothering him…_really_ bothering him.

"I didn't _know_, OK? It must have been a fluke." BeastBoy said, attempting an answer. "I guess I kinda flew off the _handle_ for a sec."

"Look, _whatever_ it was man, try to do it again. It may come in handy." Cyborg encouraged, looking around his confines. "Assuming you get a shot."

"We _will _get a shot." Robin said forcefully, his fingers outlining the stiff material of his mask while his arm lay across Starfire's shoulders. "I'm not sure how, but SLADE gets cocky when he gets comfortable. We've just gotta…_wait it out_…"

Starfire could sense that the team was in trouble, just from the sound of Robin's voice. His cool, confident manner had given way to doubt and distress. Robin guided his team with a fierce devotion and a trained intellect, and his training regiments had molded his four friends into intelligent, resourceful warriors.

But without his leadership to guide them…without his faith in _himself_…

Starfire rested her head upon Robin's shoulder, her body exhausted and her spirit strained to its limit after what she had watched SLADE put Robin through. She took a deep breath, enjoying the heady scent of her closest companion as he draped his arm around her cold shoulders. The combined heat of her body and his made the cold a little more bearable, even though she could not be sure that it would last.

"I agree. We should 'wait it out'." Star repeated, her voice tired. "What else _can_ we do?"

Robin pulled her closer, sighing heavily.

"I…don't _know_." he admitted slowly.

Raven could sense that he meant it; he really _didn't_ know.

But that was not _all_ she could sense; the permutations of other emotions were very prominent in her _own _cell as well.

"You know something?" Raven half whispered to BB, her tone confident for the first time in hours.

"What?"

"You have a _lot_ of room for improvement." Raven stated, without hesitation.

If she could have seen BeastBoy more clearly, she would have noticed that one eye-brow was arched several inches above the other in a clear display of perplexity.

His voice gave some of that away as well. "You don't _say_. Do I even wanna KNOW in what way?"

Raven moved closer, her face stern. "Yeah. For starters, you need to learn how to _lie_ more convincingly."

That was the cherry atop BeastBoy's confused Sundae. "Come again?"

Raven had a hook now, and she wasn't about to let go. Her instincts had been correct, even though BeastBoy hadn't a clue as to what she was talking about. She had felt it back in SLADE's grandiose throne-room, and she had felt it yet again when he was confronted by his friends; the same undermining, self-hating feeling that she was sensing more and more often. But she couldn't pin down the source.

"That…_Giganotosaurus_-Rex, or whatever it was…it wasn't a _fluke_, was it, BeastBoy?" Raven insisted, her voice guarded.

The sudden stiffness in BeastBoy's composure gave her enough of an answer. His silence told her even more.

"And it wasn't just SLADE's _goading_, either." Raven deciphered.

More silence; another 'yes' of sorts.

Raven undid her cape and stretched out her legs, just an inch away from where BeastBoy sat. She might have touched him, but the uncertainty of his reaction deterred her form doing so. Certain facets of her personality would have relished the physical contact at the moment, but, as usual, Raven's logical and practical side prevailed.

She pressed on. "What _happened_, BeastBoy? What…_changed _you?"

"I could _see_…**you.**" BeastBoy said, almost as if he were talking to himself.

Raven blinked; it was her turn to be confused. "_Yes_…I was right _next_ to you."

"Downtown. The Jump City Needle…on your _birthday_." BeastBoy said, as if recalling a photograph. His hands here clasped together tightly and his eyes were closed, his body stationary. It was as if a river had frozen within him, holding him in place.

Raven felt her pulse quicken. "But I never _told_ you about-"

"But I could still _see_ you." BeastBoy insisted, his eyes popping open again. "The burning Earth…the stone people…all this horrible _shrieking_ and _cawing_…"

"My _vision?_" Raven whispered.

"He wouldn't let you _go_." BeastBoy said in a fierce hush, sitting upon his knees now. "He forced you to watch _everything_ and his _hands_…they _burned_ your skin and _tore_ your clothing while you fought him and…he wouldn't let you _go_…_he wouldn't let you GO…_"

Fiery images began to dance before the eyes of the dark young woman, her memory feeding her every reminder she had of that terrible day. The fact that BeastBoy was listing every event word for word only served to distress her more.

"You could see the _five_ of us, couldn't you?" BB continued, looking with a frightened intensity at the shadowy wall before him. "We were…_fossilized_…and you couldn't do _anything_ to help us…couldn't _stop _what was happening…"

"How do you _know_ all this?" Raven _demanded _more than she asked, taking BeastBoy by the shoulders and turning him to face her directly. "My vision came to pass in almost the _exact _same way, but who _told_ you-?"

"He…_showed _me." BB said, unable to find a better explanation.

"_Who_ did? _Robin_?" Raven asked, trying to keep BeastBoy's eyes locked with her own.

"_SLADE._"

Raven jerked backwards into her corner as if she had been struck. BeastBoy had hissed the word much in the same way SLADE had whispered his words to him, as if his throat were being pinched inwards.

But something didn't add up. "_When_ in world did _he _tell you?"

"_Showed _me, Raven, in the throne room…I saw…_everything…_" BB whispered with baffled difficulty.

"BeastBoy, that doesn't make sense; he didn't _show_ you _anything_. He just…"

Then something came back to her, from earlier, when she first saw Requiem in her suspended state…

'_I know what you're thinking, Raven…and you're not even **close**.'_

"In your head…" she began, thinking through the situation. "He showed you everything in your _head.._."

"It was like I had my eyes _pried_ open…," BB said, his hands on the sides of his skull, "And the images…they just kept _coming_. Every word he said to me caused something new to _pour_ into my head…nothing I did could _stop_ him, and it was all so _real_, so bright…my eyes watered from the _smell_…"

Raven had gotten BeastBoy to talk more freely, but she wasn't sure how long he would keep it up; she had to be delicate. "_Then_ what happened?"

BeastBoy took in several shaky breaths, his slight shoulders quivering from the recollection. "He must've picked something up from your dad, 'cause he kept _showing_ me things…making me feel like I was _right_ there with you and him on that building. I saw you in that vortex right before Trigon appeared…I saw Robin come to get you in the pits…I saw your _mother_…"

"You saw _Arella_?" Raven gasped.

BeastBoy nodded, his eyes calming and his face set on hers. "Yes…it was amazing. She looked really _sad _when you went to see her. She was afraid for you, and wanted to help you _so _much. I had no _idea_ how much you looked like… I mean…your mother was _stunning_."

Raven felt a twinge of regret for what had happened to Azarath…and her mother. But still, it had been such a relief to see her Arella, even if it was only for a few moments.

BeastBoy's compliment was deeply appreciated as well, but she still needed the rest. "What else did SLADE show you?"

But BeastBoy would only shook his head, his wet hair falling before his eyes, hiding them. "I don't wanna say…"

"That's not going to work." Raven said. "Tell me…_please_."

"It doesn't matter." BeastBoy said flatly, his eyes still hidden.

"What did he _show_ you, BeastBoy?" Raven pressed. "And don't tell me 'it doesn't matter'. I'm smarter than that."

"I _know_ you are, but…look, can we let this go?" BeastBoy asked softly.

"Not a chance. I don't care how small it is, I want you to _tell_ me." Raven insisted.

"It's not small."

"Then what is it?"

"Look, it won't happen, alright?"

"What do you mean '_it_'?"

"Nothing, just forget it."

"_BeastBoy_…"

"I won't let it happen, alright? Can we just _leave_ it at that?"

"Won't let _what _happen? Just TELL me!"

"I will not let that ANIMAL _kill_ you!" BeastBoy yelled.

The sound of his yell echoed in the small cell, the last syllable of the word 'you' reverberating in Raven's ear. She was sure that the others had heard BeastBoy's outburst, but they remained as silent as she did. They couldn't formulate a response any better than Raven could, her mouth silent, her hands rigid as they gripped BB's stiffened shoulders.

She felt as though she was under the sea, her eyes open but her lungs filled with water.

The human voice-box doesn't function very well when it feels torn from the throat. Raven could attest to that.

"_BeastBoy_…_I…I don't_…"

"What that maniac showed me _triggered_ that change," BeastBoy said, disengaging her hands from his body and swiftly turning around. "And I'll be _damned_ if I let _that_ happen."

Raven didn't move from where she sat. She watched as BeastBoy stood before her, facing the door, and quickly morphed into a Rodeo Bull, his head broad and his horns thick. He pawed the ground once more, blew a grunt out of his large nose, and charged the eight foot distance between him and the door.

**_NNNUUUUUURRRRRR-_OOOOOOOWhuh!**

_**Ker-CLANG!**_

The ground beneath Raven's unmoving body literally shook, the heavy metal enclosure absorbing the strike like ballistics gelatin. She watched with shocked eyes as BeastBoy fell to ground once more, his hulking mass covering the floor of the cell. A few seconds later, BeastBoy began to raise upwards again, his muscular legs picking his two ton frame off of the floor.

**_Ker-CLANG! Ker-CLANG!_**

Two more mighty head-butts gored at the doors sturdy armor, sending ripples of energy through BeastBoy's dark green fur. The force was enough to over-turn a semi-tracker trailer, but the thick metal held fast, despite the fantastic power behind the changelings attack.

Raven jumped to her feet when the bull fell again, her face tight with a pained expression. Before she could say anything, the bovine briefly melted back into BeastBoy's human form again, his desperation and anger red hot.

"Let me _OUT!_" he yelled before assuming the form of a snarling Tiger.

**_SHLANG-SHLANG! SHLANG-_SCRAPE!**

BeastBoy beat at the door with his massive paws, his claws digging into the rough metal of the door. Sparks would fly outwards every so often, skittering across the cold metal floor. His eyes flashed white in the poorly-lit room, his tail lashing back and forth like a striped bull-whip. Every time the big cat struck, it would step back a yard or so, and lunge at the door again, swiping at the same spot over and over with equal tenacity.

_**SHLANG-SHLANG!**_

After a few minutes of this, Raven found her voice. "St-…_stop_…"

**_SHLANG-_SCRAPE! POUND! **

"_Stop_…_stop it, _BeastBoy…!"

_**RRRRROOOAAAARRR! **_

_**SHHHHHLLLLAAAANG!**_

"You'll _hurt_ yourself! _Stop_ it! Now!"

**_SHLANG-_BANG! _Skrich_-SHLANG!**

"Don't do this, _please! STOP IT!_" Raven cried, dashing towards the large predator.

Normally, it isn't a good idea to sneak up on large animals, especially ones that out-weigh and out-_tooth_ you by ten to one. It usually results in the animal getting angry and the human getting eviscerated. But at this point, Raven could not longer see a desperate, cornered beast fighting for its freedom. In fact, it was if she couldn't see anything at all. She could _feel_ something, however; the overwhelming _need _to stop her friend from injuring himself during his futile escape attempt.

Despite his determined frame of mind and aching fore-legs, BeastBoy was suddenly aware of a weight upon his long back, as well as a tightening sensation around his huge neck. It was not a painful feeling, but it was a persistent one, as were the words that were being yelled into his thick pelt.

"_BeastBoy, STOP! PLEASE stop, I don't want you to do this!_" Raven pleaded with her face buried his lurching shoulder, her arms firmly locked around his neck. "_Don't kill yourself over this, PLEASE!_"

_**SHLANG-SHLANG!**_

_**RRRRROOOAAAARRR!**_

"_You can't protect me if you're HURT!_" the young girl yelled franticly through her tears as she held on for dear life atop the bucking feline.

**_SHLANG-_SCRAPE! _SNAAARRRRRLLLL!_**

"_I can't _**do **_this WITHOUT you!_"

**_SHLANG…_WHUMPF!**

Down went the Tiger.

Raven held on till the very end, even though her arms felt as though they had been pulled out of their sockets. Her eyes remained sealed, her teeth gritted from the sheer act of staying atop the mad creature that was her team-mate. His tired and injured body had finally given way under the weight of his exhaustion, collapsing upon his large belly with his legs sprawled out before him. His mouth remained open in a defiant grimace, but his eyes were weary and could barely open themselves.

Raven could feel the heat from BeastBoy's heavy breathing, his chest pumping like a bellows. The muscles within his neck twitched with each gulping breath, his blood thundering through his body. But still, she refused to budge.

"_Whatever_ SLADE showed you, I know it was bad." Raven whispered to the green cat, her forehead pressed into his coarse fur. "I know he made you feel helpless and _angry_ and used and…and…probably a _thousand_ other things all at once. He must have shown you something _terrible_ for you to react this way."

The large creature beneath her didn't respond, physically or telepathically. He only continued to breath.

"But _whatever_ it was, I know we can figure out a way to prevent it. SLADE and his new…_abomination_ are not to going to get the best of us." Raven reassured, removing one clasped hand to gently pet the heavy fur upon BeastBoy's cheek. "We didn't come all the way _down_ here just to fall short."

A sound came from somewhere to Raven's side. "She's right, BB."

Raven looked up, deciphering the voice. "Cyborg?"

"I don't know if you can hear me man, but I want you to know that we're not down and out _yet_." Cyborg said, adding his conviction to Raven's. "The Titan's don't give in without a _fight_."

"I am in agreement with Cyborg." Starfire chimed in, her self-assured tone reminiscent of several days ago when she was lounging in Jump City Bay. "This man has far too many crimes to which he must answer. And _until_ my life is snatched away from me, I will protect every living thing that he threatens, and use all my power to bring him to justice…I _swear _it."

"Besides," Robin added, his voice surprisingly optimistic, "SLADE has ruined enough of my time with my friends. I will not allow him to keep me from having the life I _deserve_ any longer."

"Yeah, man. I've got fifty new upgrades to make on the T-Car in the next month _alone_, not to mention my voracious social calendar." Cyborg agreed, his voice resilient and thoughtful. "And the high score on Space Race XL-95 is still up for grabs, remember?"

"There are so many things in this world that I have not experienced." Starfire included, her voice thoughtful. "Did you know that there are _seventy-five_ varieties of mustard that I have yet to taste? There is still so much to do!"

"Still so much to catch _up_ on." Robin said, pulling Starfire closer. "So much that I've had the _chance_ to explore, but never taken _advantage_ of. So much I've wanted to _say_ and _do_…"

Starfire wrapped her arms around Robin's sore head, pulling him into tender kiss. Her eyes lingered upon his as she spoke, keeping her shackled hand upon his cheek. "And I know you will honor those wishes when we _leave_ this horrible place. We will have the chance to be what we _want_ to be. No more _secrets_, no more _awkwardness_, no more _shame_, just…_us_."

"It's about _time_." Cyborg muttered.

During this whole conversation, BeastBoy had slowly begun to shrink back into his human form, the fur gently melting away into soft green skin, his tail disappearing back into his spine. His eyes remained open, but the look of burdened anxiety had long since drained away from his deep-green gaze.

Raven pushed up from the floor, leaning on her left arm as BeastBoy reached a sitting position. His demeanor was that of a student, eagerly but warily listening to the voices that dictated themselves to him.

"You have reasons for wanting to get home too, _don't_ you?" Raven asked hopefully, a little more relaxed with the subject.

BeastBoy looked Raven in the eye. His soul seemed to seize hers in that moment, causing Raven to stare back, wide-eyed. She didn't like being stared at, present company included, and BeastBoy's intensity made her even more uncomfortable. She wasn't a person who was easily read, but BeastBoy was making a decent attempt.

Although what he said next was just plain silly. "Two-hundred and seven."

Raven finally blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I have two-hundred and seven _comic books_ that I still haven't read." BeastBoy said, looking at the ceiling, almost casually. "They're alphabetized, and placed in order of importance. Oh, and my _ant-farm! _I still need to give the little guys names. Not to mention all the _fan-mail_ I still have to respond to…"

'_He's approaching this far more calmly than first anticipated.' _Knowledge observed.

'_I wonder if he really **does** receive fan-mail.' _Curiosity inquired.

'_Yeah, subscriptions to TOFU-WEEKLY probably.' _Rude remarked.

Raven was aware that several of her inner-selves were just as confused as she was, but she did her best to block them out. Her focus was on BeastBoy now, and would remain as such until he started making sense.

"…laundry that I haven't washed since the last time Superman fought Doomsday, plus my plans to visit every club on the west coast before I'm twenty-one, northern _and _southern states of course, along with my_ mushroom_ collection growing in my closet…" BeastBoy continued.

"I'm glad you have such a _list_." Raven said somewhat critically, turning to walk back slowly into the rear of the cell. She brushed off the several green furs that still clung to her tattered leotard, watching them flutter to the ground. "I think it's about time you did some _constructive_ thinking, given how you've spent most of this mission dreading every coming second. Perhaps _now _you'll be able to-"

She was cut off when she was suddenly grabbed from behind and spun around, her words dieing in her mouth. She was once more facing the green teenager, his face stern in the dull light. Although he was not as tall as she, Raven had the distinct impression that she was looking at someone several inches taller than he actually stood.

"What is it?" she asked softly.

BeastBoy released her hand, letting it gently fall to her side. "You didn't let me _finish_."

Raven's forehead creased in annoyance. "I think I got the _gist _of your hobby inventory, BeastBoy. I'm not sure I need to hear the rest."

BeastBoy looked a little hurt. "You don't want to know WHY I find all those things important?"

"I could take a wild stab." Raven quipped.

"You'd be wrong." BB insisted.

"Doubtful; _very _doubtful." Raven shot back.

BeastBoy's gaze softened a bit, his familiar, smug grin briefly crossing his lips. He had the appearance of the cat that swallowed the canary for a brief moment; a look that made Raven anxious.

BeastBoy raised his hand slowly, towards Raven; a strange gesture to witness in the darkness of the chamber. Raven knew that her eyes must have been very large at this point, and that all kinds of apprehension played across them. She wasn't sure what was going on, but her body could not move itself to stop BeastBoy's hand, regardless of its destination.

She received her answer when BeastBoy touched the tips of his ungloved hand to Raven's scar. The injury was not acting up, and wasn't bleeding, so far as she could tell. But her heightened feelings of awareness made her skin all the more touch sensitive, especially since BeastBoy was the one touching her.

"This was _my_ fault." BeastBoy started, slowly caressing the scar-tissue, letting his fingers play through Raven's silky hair.

"What…are you _talking _about?" Raven asked cautiously.

"You were right; I've spent most of this mission wishing I were somewhere else. I've thought about how I wish your life was _not_ in my hands, mostly because I didn't think I could _handle_ that responsibility." BeastBoy continued.

Raven felt her eyes flutter for a second, her body as still as stone while BeastBoy delicately touched her wound.

"My hobbies are…kinda _childish_, yeah." BeastBoy confirmed. "And I guess I could find more constructive ways to spend my free-time; less jokes, for example. I know how lame I can be and how much I annoy you. You probably wish that I would just fall off of the face of the Earth sometimes, huh?"

Raven's face fell when she heard that. "BeastBoy, I never _meant_ to…"

"_Just_…let me finish, OK?" BeastBoy requested, moving a little closer.

Raven silenced.

"I mean, YEAH, I do _enjoy_ those things, and YEAH, I would _miss_ all the lost chances I would have had if I didn't make it back." BB continued, desperate to keep his train of thought on track. "There must be like a HUNDRED horror movies I haven't seen yet…"

Raven tilted her head a bit in confusion: where was he going with this?

"But all of it-the games, the comics, the random breakfast-battles that I have with Cy, all the training and all the **work** and all the _goofing off_ and all the _jokes_…" BB said, trailing off slightly, his eyes closing.

Raven felt a clamminess in her hands, and an odd pounding sensation in her chest. "_Yes…?_"

BeastBoy exhaled what seemed to be all the air in his lungs; his bodies' physical reaction to every falling barrier that surrounded him.

"If I go home without _you_…It wouldn't be home." BeastBoy whispered.

Raven felt her pulse in her fingertips.

"Nothing else that I _have_…nothing else that I _do_…would _matter _if _you_ weren't a part of it." BeastBoy finally admitted, his eyes slowly opening, blurred by tears.

Raven could relate at that moment.

"_You..._are my reason for making it out of here." BeastBoy said, his face full of conviction once more. "That means that I gotta _protect _you. That means I have to keep you safe, understand?"

It was all Raven had to simply nod. Her tears finally broke free to race down her saddened face, slowing as they approached her partially opened mouth, downturned in an overwhelming expression of understanding.

"I promise I will _protect_ you, Raven." BeastBoy said, his hand finding her chin. "I _promise_."

Anyone who has ever watched as a fortress or a building collapses knows what it means to witness true destructive power. Very few, however, know what it feels like to actually be a _part_ of that destruction; to feel your own walls and shields suddenly fracture and crumble within you, shaking apart like a house of cards. The debilitating effects of such an occurrence can leave a person feeling vulnerable and defeated, especially if they are unable to rebuild their defenses.

BeastBoy had accomplished two things in that freezing little cage. He had finally broken through the layer upon layer of protective walls surrounding Raven's vulnerable side.

He had also convinced her that, should she ever _rebuild_ those defenses, she would _never _have to guard them alone; _ever_ again.

'_I've never felt this way before…EVER...' _Raven thought softly, her body moving of its own accord.

"_You won't let anything **hurt** me.._." Raven said in amazement as she held BB close, the young girls' arms suddenly tight around him, her voice punctuated by soft sobs.

"They'll have to go through _ME_ **first**." BeastBoy said shakily, rocking Raven back and forth as they held each other, his smaller frame somehow engulfing hers. "And I dare them to _try_…I _**dare** _them…"

Raven hadn't felt such security since her mother had last held her, and BeastBoy had never felt more needed. The sensations flowed through the two teenagers like hot-chocolate, warm and sweet and filling.

More often then not, super-heroes are looked upon as towers of strength, independence, resolve, and courage. What people tend to forget is the fact that they are _people_, too. Sometimes, the thing that makes them the most inspiring is their ability to recognize their desire for something that _all_ people, at one time or another, _need_: each other.

Raven had needed someone for a very, _very _long time; she never guessed who that someone might be.

The dark woman pulled back slightly to look at BeastBoy's face, unashamed of the tears which she shed. She wanted to thank him, face to face, for giving her what she had _alway_s needed but _never_ asked for.

What she saw when she looked at BB's face surprised her greatly. His face was familiar, of course, but in a very strange way. She had seen this facade once before…

…in her _dreams_.

"…_Garfield?_"

**FFFOOOSH!**

"TIME TO _GO_, TITAN MAGGOTS!" bellowed a harsh voice in a glaring light.

**P-TOOOF! _CLAMP!_**

BeastBoy was suddenly torn from Raven's arms, his hands grasping franticly at a new collar that had re-attached itself to his neck! Raven felt her breath turn to ice as she watched a huge Atlas drone drag the gagging changeling across the metal floor, his legs kicking wildly.

"_RAVEN!_" BeastBoy yelled, fearing for her life.

"_NO! BeastBoy-_**UHH**!" Raven gasped as the butt of a large weapon was jammed into her stomach with a dull thud.

"GET THEM ALL OUT! LASH THEM _TOGETHER_!" the hostile robot commanded.

Raven had the brief sensation of weightlessness as she was hoisted off the ground and slung over the rounded metal shoulder of a walking building. Her hands were clasped in one hand of the giant machine, several of her injuries flaring up from the trauma.

The drone stepped out of the cell, its huge mass reassuming its full height in the brightly-lit hallway. Raven squinted in the light as several more pairs of restraints were placed upon her body. She was barely able to watch as it happened.

BeastBoy was being held by several droids in front of her, his body lurching and heaving between them. Further ahead, Cyborg was once again knocked to his knee's, the drone kicking him in his vulnerable human stomach; he stayed down.

Raven could hear Robin before she could see him. "Get your hands _off _of her, you _sons_ _of_-!"

_PUNCH!_

Robin smacked against the wall like a tennis-ball, crumpling at the feet of the large robot.

"**_Robin! _**Please, _no…ROBIN!_" Starfire cried, struggling in vain against her capture.

Raven could see a smaller, ganglier shape approach from the front of the small guard of Atlas's. He stood at attention, his circular shaped clothing and bad goatee catching her attention.

"Take these five to the _demonstration _platform in the masters' main audience chamber." Dr. Light said, his voice just as grating and sinister as always. "They have a _very_ important appointment…make sure they arrive _promptly_."

Raven watched with rising anguish as her friends…her _family_…were lead down the hall one at a time. Out of the corner of her blurry eye, she could just make out BeastBoy's face.

He looked panic-stricken.

"_AHH!_" Raven yelped, a sharp twinge of pain running across her head.

Dr. Light was standing just in front of the large Atlas soldier, his right hand pulling on the young woman's hair. He craned her neck downwards by force, nearly ripping the dark locks from her scalp. He forced her face towards his own.

"I hope you enjoyed your _time_ together," Dr. Light said, his breath assaulting Raven's nose. "The master said it would be _gentlemanly_ of him to allow you time to prepare for death."

"What's the _matter_, Light?" Raven asked through gritted teeth. "Decided you can't _cut_ _it _on your own anymore? Is _that_ why you're SLADE's _lackey_?"

Dr. Light only smiled, his yellow teeth shinning and his burning red eyes digging into Ravens' pupils. "My needs are now that of my masters, _Raven_. I have no qualms about that. Besides, the _fringe_ benefits are worth the loyalty."

"He lets you _rant_?" Raven asked defiantly. "He pretends to listen to your _lunacy, _is _that_ it?"

Dr. Light released Raven's hair, letting his hand trail softly down Raven's pale cheek. The gesture was very similar to what BeastBoy's had been, with the exception that Dr. Light's touch felt _acidic_.

But the matter-of-fact tone of his voice felt even worse.

"Really, Raven; do you honestly think I would give _up_ the opportunity to watch you _die_?"


	19. Incentive

_Crucial chapter, so I won't give anything away. Please, if you read, I'd like you to review. Hope y'all read it carefully. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, or **any** animated form of entertainment, for that matter. Nor am I politically motivated in any way by writing this chapter._

**Chap. 19: Incentive**

"You have no idea how long I've waited for this, DO you, _Robin?_" a serpentine voice said.

"_Bite _me!" the said Titan responded.

The remark may have been more intimidating, and less comical, if Robin wasn't chained upside down. His spiky black hair, still drenched with sweat, pointed towards the solid metal platform beneath him. The chains that extended his arms and legs outwards creaked with his weight, his cape drooped behind his head.

SLADE looked just as menacing even when he wasn't right-side up. "I suppose I should expect such _vile_ commentary from someone who really has hit rock bottom."

"Let me down from here and I'll _show_ you just how hard I can hit!" Robin demanded, his head heavy with his own blood.

"Tempting," SLADE said, his arms crossed, "But I have other plans for you…all _five _of you."

The other super-teens were spaced around SLADE like the remaining four points of a five pointed star. All were shackled, once more, with specially constructed materials and deprivation technology, suspended upside by chains. The chains themselves were attached to a large steel ring, surrounding each Titan individually, which in turn was welded to the slick metal platform.

"So what is this, some kind of torture?" BeastBoy asked from where he hung, the light casting shadows across his face. "You're just gonna leave us like this till our heads pop off?"

"Such an amusing demise would suite a fool such as yourself, BeastBoy," SLADE answered, "But I'm afraid you're too idiotic to predict what I have in store for _you_."

The platform which SLADE stood upon was massive; probably one-hundred and fifty feet wide, and even then, the light wouldn't show the very edge. It was as shiny as nickel and smooth as glass, as if it were constructed of something made of both materials. But it seemed to be one solid piece, because wherever SLADE walked, there was no vibration, no hollow sound.

As usual, the light seemed to be emanating from everywhere and nowhere, like the sun on an overcast day. A small device, dark gray with a red, pulsing light atop it, was now rigged to SLADE's shoulder. It was separated from his primary control device, but as to its purpose, BeastBoy couldn't tell.

SLADE cast no shadow, but everything about him seemed darker than pitch.

"You'll forgive me if I don't hurry this along," SLADE said, "But I've been planning for this occasion for some time now, and it would be _criminal_ of me not to enjoy it fully."

"Interesting choice of words." Raven said, her wound bleeding fresh blood upon the floor beneath her. "I would have chosen _sadist_."

"Come now, Raven, would a sadist have put you and your deep-green friend in the same cell together?" SLADE asked, turning towards her. "Not that it wouldn't have been _entertaining_ to listen to your sweet words as you _screamed_ them through the ultra-thick walls…but I thought it was an appropriate amount of time for good-byes."

Raven felt her stomach turn. "You were _listening_?"

"But of course." SLADE said matter-of-factly. "I wanted to make sure that you were using your time appropriately, but not over stepping your boundaries."

BeastBoy felt that same slab of anger begin to slide over his heart again. "You get your kicks from the sadness of others, _huh_?"

"If by that you mean that I find satisfaction in the anguish of my enemies, then _yes_." SLADE admitted. "A defining element of loss only strengthens that contentment."

"A megalomaniac by day, a _peeping-tom_ by night." Cyborg said, his fist-covering restraints rattling as he talked. "I knew you were a pervert at heart."

SLADE seemed to ignore him. "Robin and Starfire seemed to have the right idea. Though I must say, I never figured _Robin _for a melodramatic-romantic."

"What does _that_ mean? And why are you implying that Robin is such?" Starfire demanded, blowing hair out of her face as it draped around her head.

SLADE reached up, touched a few buttons upon his new control-glove, and waited.

A voice, high-pitched and slightly distorted, began to echo throughout the chamber, reverberating with suffering and anger.

/ I need to _tell _you something…please be OK so I can tell you…_please_...Come back, Star…_ Please!_ Come back…/

Robin turned red with anger, a vein bulging upon his pale forehead. "You RECORDED us!"

"If I hadn't sent that digger when I did, the two of you would still be in that tunnel, making a _sickening_ display out of yourselves." SLADE said as the last traces of the recording died away. "And my patience has limits."

Starfire felt livid with resentment. "How _dare_ you _cheapen_ such a wonderful exchange…?"

But SLADE only adjusted his odd shoulder-device, and wouldn't look directly at Star. Instead, he looked at Robin. "Honestly, Robin, I would have expected you two to make better use of your time."

Robin stopped his thrashing, his face still purple but now full of question. "Better use?"

SLADE approached Starfire with the posture of a cat stalking a mouse, still addressing Robin. "The two of you…all _alone _in a frigid wasteland…only each other for company and warmth…"

Robin's eyes blinked wide. "_How did you…?_"

"I know what you _really_ want from Starfire, my boy." SLADE said, seizing Starfire's face in his grip. "I can't say that I blame you. After all…she is a very _healthy_ young woman, isn't she?"

Robin clenched his teeth with white-hot astonishment, his eyes drilling holes into SLADE. "_Take your hand _OFF _of her, you molesting freak!_"

"_Release me!_" Starfire yelled through her pinched lips.

SLADE allowed a low chuckle to escape, his fingers nimbly avoiding Starfire's chomping teeth. "Such _impure_ thoughts from such a _virtuous_ warrior; _tsk-tsk, _Robin."

He finally released the young princesses' head, and walked back towards the center of the large flat platform. He raised his right arm to his mask, holding it close. "Requiem?"

**_FFF_-WWWOOOOMM!**

A flame of white-purple energy appeared at SLADE's side, building up and outwards like a bursting flower-bud. Each Titan could feel the heat from the psychically-charged blaze, the platform suddenly bright with the new light source. The fire grew in size and ultimately revealed the snow-haired young woman, the flames licking their way up and down her body before burning out.

As soon as Requiem was fully in view, the small apparatus on SLADE's shoulder began to blink violently, and then subsided.

'_What IS that thing?' _Robin wondered.

"_Welcome_, my dear. How was your rest?" SLADE asked with syrupy malice.

"Refreshing, Lord SLADE." the young woman replied softly.

'_She even SOUNDS like Jinx.' _Cyborg thought regrettably.

SLADE placed one hand upon the armored shoulder of his creation, his face sweeping from one Titan to the next. "Since the five of you have shared such _deep_ and _emotional_ revelations with me over the past few days, I think it only fitting that I…return the _favor_, if you will."

SLADE turned to the young executioner at his side. "Raise the platform, Requiem. To broadcast echelon, if you please."

Requiem nodded her angelic face. "Thy will be done."

The powerful young woman pointed her right hand towards the floor, and began to conjure. Requiem's hair began to float and rustle about her shoulders, her eyes widening ever so slowly.

"Azarath, Metrion, _Zinthos._" Requiem whispered.

**_RRRRR-_UUUMMMMBBLLEEE...**

BeastBoy felt the floor begin to shake as he watched Requiem's movements. She turned her hand palm up a second later, clenching it into a fist. There was a cracking noise, much like the sound of a large steel door closing. Requiem seemed to be wrapping her fingers around the very platform itself. The second she did so, the huge structure began to float, giving BeastBoy a momentary sensation of weightlessness.

As if curling a dumbbell with her bicep, Requiem began to raise the huge construct. All two-hundred tons were suddenly levitating into the air, supported by nothing but the sheer will of the five-foot girl.

"_Whoa…_" Cyborg whispered, feeling the power beneath his suspended body.

"You can say _that_ again." BB muttered.

A slight breeze began to pick up as the platform began to rise higher and faster. The light from above seemed to increase in brilliance, suggesting that the journey was soon to end. The sound of whistling air surrounded the five captives, causing the girls' hair to rustle and spin. Robin's face was momentarily covered by his own cape, and BeastBoy's funny internal sensation had given way to full-blown motion sickness. If possible, he was an even deep shade of evergreen.

"I think I'm gonna _hurl_." BeastBoy muttered with bulged eyes.

"Impending death seems to have that effect on people." SLADE said before addressing his com-function on his wrist. "Brother Blood: Release dome enclosure canopy."

The brightness from above ceased, a second before a new, more familiar luminosity took its place. The beam of fluorescence grew steadily larger, illuminating the entire platform in a steadily increasing circle of artificial light. Requiem never lost her concentration, continuing to raise the huge stage up and out of the massive enclosure.

Starfire could recognize the smell that perforated the air; she had smelled it before.

"We are back _outside_." The princess said curiously.

Sure enough, the large, circular dais was now in the open air of the grand chamber beneath the surface of the Arctic. It seemed to fit perfectly in the huge hole constructed in the ceiling of the massive facility. Fogged, foul smelling air surrounded the upside-down teens, as did the muted light that seemed to touch everything around it.

"Engage magnetic clamps." SLADE commanded.

The platform shuddered as several hundred unseen magnetic devices noisily attached themselves to the outer-rim of the metal disc that was the arena. The ground held firm, and Requiem simultaneously released her hold upon it. Once again she stood, un-winded by the effort, at SLADE's side.

"This stuff _stinks_." BeastBoy said, his ultra-sensitive nose crinkling up. "You'd think he could air out the place every now and then."

"Tell me about it. And I can't see ten feet in front of my face." Cyborg said.

"That's the _idea_, my former pupil." came a voice from the mist.

Cyborg jerked his head to one side, just in time to see Brother Blood as he emerged from the fog. He walked with the confidence typical of most psychos', his smile broad and his arms behind his back. His eyes glowed with the same familiar crimson that had haunted several of Cyborgs' junk-food influenced nightmares. His feet tapped lightly across the solid metal surface of the raised discus, slowly approaching the opposite side of the masked man standing before him.

"The mist acts as a jamming agent, covering the entire area in a static-charged blanket of semi-radioactive snow. Without it, those troublesome _defense_ satellites that constantly circle the globe would detect us in less than twenty-four hours." Blood stated proudly, enjoying his own brilliance. "The sulfurous smell is side effect of the radiation treatment."

"You would never have known about the existence of this facility, or the fate of Blackfire, unless I lured you here." SLADE gloated. "But then, I'm accustomed to leaving the five of you breadcrumbs; _obliviousness _seems to be your bread and butter."

"_Where is my **sister**_?" Starfire asked angrily.

"An excellent question." SLADE said, turning to Brother Blood. "Why don't you have the young woman _join_ us? This concerns her just as much as them."

Even though she was upside down, Raven could both see and sense the apprehension within the former headmaster of H.I.V.E. academy. Even his voice seemed unsure.

"Master, should we really _reveal_ our strategy to these insufferable brats? Surely we can wait for a more opportune time to-"

**HUUU-_RRRROOOOOONNN…_**

SLADE cut the old man short with a look; a _powerful _look. His one visible eye began to glow a neon blue, as bright and powerful as any spotlight. A sound, much like the pulsing noise from a power-line, followed the light, callous and imposing. It was focused solely upon Brother Blood's face, causing the red of his pupils to melt away suddenly. His eyes were wide and his retinas fixated upon that blue light, unable to look away.

Raven knew something was _very_ wrong.

"Prisoner _Zero One._" SLADE said slowly, the tiniest edge to his voice. "_**Now**._"

The second the blue light ceased to assault Brother Blood's eyes, his face relaxed again, even though he sounded winded and even a bit frightened when he next spoke. "Yes, I…of _course_, my Lord…_right away_."

The gray-haired man bowed and backed away briskly, keeping his eyes focused on anything but SLADE's emotionless mask. His body was still bent as he disappeared back into the mist atop the huge structure.

"_How _the _hell_…" Cyborg whispered.

"What kind of aberration _are_ you?" Starfire asked.

Despite her condition, and her desire to pass-out from all the blood in her head, Raven managed the smallest of smiles. "You got more than you _bargained_ for, didn't you, SLADE?"

SLADE caught her comment, jerking his head abnormally fast in her direction. But he remained silent, as unreadable as a stone.

"What do you mean 'more'?" BeastBoy asked.

"You sought _one_ thing from my father in exchange for your services; that was the agreement. I guess you _got_ what you wanted." Raven continued, deciphering the situation.

"Wait, what did he _get_? What agreement?" BeastBoy asked, a little louder.

"I thought you knew that you couldn't make a deal with the devil and hope to come away without _some _kind of catch." Raven said, her voice filled with a strange mock-astonishment.

"Yeah. Right. Talkin' to myself here." BeastBoy said, frustrated.

"She means _SLADE_ didn't get _exactly_ what he wanted when he got his body back, man. Try to keep _up_." Cyborg said in a harsh whisper.

"A side effect from being separated from my body for such an extended period of time." SLADE said evenly, as if unprovoked by Raven's discovery. "A final 'consequence', as it were, but not a totally undesirable one."

"You can't even _hire _help." Robin said snidely. "You have to force these people to serve you against their will."

"It is not nearly as crass as that," SLADE corrected. "But much more symbiotic in nature; I control the old headmaster, and he controls the other three. It could be called a 'team' effort, in a way. But if _your_ team is any indication, _Robin_, I should only use them for as long as is practical; they will prove to be an encumbrance after too long."

"My team is **not **an _encumbrance_." Robin stated icily.

"Hmmm…then why have you never _defeated_ me?"

The leader of the Titans opened his mouth as if to speak, but shut it promptly when he could find no refutation. He merely kept his eyes locked upon his adversary, his body hazy in the thick mist.

"Face it, _Robin_," SLADE continued. "_You_ have been the only one of these five to ever truly get the best of me. _None_ of them are a match for me one on one, and combined, they are awkward and disorganized. Time and again you have foiled some of my best laid plans. And yet, each time, I slip through your fingertips, regardless of you _or_ your teams' efforts."

He approached the young man, the mist swirling around him like a gray-white cloak. He reached forward, and with one strong tug, ripped the yellow embossed 'R' from Robin's chest, a small hole appearing in the heavy material.

"It is no surprise to me that the capture of the infamous _Ten Titans _was so anticlimactic." SLADE said victoriously before ripping the small patch of cloth in two, the pieces fluttering to the cold metal ground.

"It's almost sad, how easy your defeat will be: truly _disgraceful_." The manic jeered, rubbing it in.

The general sense of shame and angered-sorrow hung heavy upon the five heroes. Raven could feel the spirits of her friends as they began to sink, even though they feigned brave faces and defiant determination. SLADE knew how to push buttons, if nothing else, and right now, he was nailing every one.

Even so, Robin's smile seemed strangely out of place; as did his hushed laughter.

"Does something _amuse_ you?" SLADE asked malevolently.

Through the random snickers and red cheeks, Robin managed to speak. "You know something…you're _right_. I've beaten you and stopped you, but never actually brought you to justice…never really silenced you, no matter _what_ I've done."

SLADE seemed pleasantly surprised by the answer, cocking his head to one side before turning his back to Robin and walking towards the center of the platform. "_Interesting_. If I had known that systematic _torture_ was all it took to show you the winning side, I would have employed the tactic _years_ ago."

But Robin wasn't finished. "I just think it's funny that I'm hearing speeches about being so effortlessly _beaten_…from a man who had his ass _handed _to him by a skinny _blonde_ girl."

SLADE stopped in his tracks.

So did Starfire's heart.

'_Since when does Robin hit below the belt?' _BeastBoy wondered.

SLADE turned where he stood, very _slowly_, until he was once more facing his teenage foe. The potent smell, combined with the dense vapor and his inverted appearance, gave the tall man an almost statuesque look, as if he were carved from the same stone as his throne.

Robin was less than impressed. "All your scheming and plotting, all your desires for conquest, all your delusions of grandeur and intellectual superiority…"

_SNAP! _went Robin's fingers.

"…_destroyed _by a girl with trust issues and a mean temper; a girl you turned against her friends…against her _family._" Robin said contemptuously. "A final tainting of someone good. _Misguided_, but still _good_."

Raven was astounded that SLADE had remained silent this long.

"You couldn't even stop an errant _teenager_ from defying your will." The inverted boy finished. "Even _with_ your army, what makes you think that you'll have better luck in over-turning the entire _planet_?"

It could have been a western; two gunslingers, at high noon, facing off in the middle of a dusty (or in this case foggy) street. The only differences, of course, were that Robin had no gun, couldn't move, was upside _down, _and totally at the mercy of the heavily armed and seriously disturbed man before him. Raven knew that SLADE wasn't just packing an army of nine foot tall Robot-drones: the ghostly young woman beside him was a force to be feared as well.

But somehow, whenever SLADE _spoke_, his words and voice intimidated far better than any arsenal.

"Oh, my _dear_ Robin; by the time my plan reaches fruition, I won't _have_ to." SLADE murmured confidently.

BeastBoy's trepidation was a little more direct than Raven's, even if it was just in his head. _'He's-toast-he's-toast-he's-toast-he's-TOAST…!" _

The next time SLADE typed a command into his armband, the Titans expected Robin to burst into flames, at the very least. But instead, each Titan felt their center of gravity begin to shift. The large rings that both held their chains and suspended their bodies began to revolve in a clockwise fashion, slowly but surely turning the Titan's right-side up. To the casual observer, it looked as if all five heroes were doing a slow cartwheel while standing in place.

"Control-Freak: report to primary demonstration arena at _once._" SLADE ordered into his communication device.

Once the Titans were fully upright, and the blood began to drain away from their heads, they were able to get a better sense of their position. Given the depth of fog and how the platform seemed to drop sharply in every direction, they were able determine that they were very near the topmost plateau of the huge building. But as to _why_ they were brought there, no one could guess.

"Your prisoner, Master." came the familiar ghostly voice.

As before, Brother Blood appeared from the thick murk like a phantom, but this time, he came not alone.

"It's about _time,_ General Blood. Place the prisoner in the center of the display area." SLADE said. "I want the all _five_ of them to see this."

The snowy-haired servant walked with a small device in hand. Behind him, floating atop a large, black plate of steel, sat a recognizable rectangle of ice. It hovered nearly a foot above the ground, gliding swiftly through the dense atmosphere. The hover-dolly made the transportation look effortless.

Both SLADE and Requiem stood clear of the huge slab, giving it plenty of room to maneuver. Brother Blood used the steering controls upon his small device to position the dolly in the exact center of the five restrained youths. It pivoted back and forth in mid air, before descending and landing with an audible _clunk. _

"Life signs?" SLADE inquired.

"Stable, my master. She is in stasis, and remains in good overall health." Brother Blood informed.

"Very well…" SLADE began, looking around him as if trying to locate something in the air above him.

"Is there something _else_, Sire?" Brother Blood asked, a little too timidly.

The tyrannical madman continued his skyward glance. "This blanket of camouflage is beginning to annoy me. It has served its purpose, and I want it removed."

Brother Blood looked aghast. "Re…Re_moved, _sir?"

"At once." SLADE commanded.

"Lord SLADE, if the Radar Jamming blanket is vented, we will be _exposed_. Our entire operation will be visible to any nation with a camera in space…"

"_My _operation will have been completed well before the blanket dissipates across the Arctic. Now, carry out my _order_, General." SLADE said.

"But I never designed the mist to hide such a large area for very long…!" Blood insisted.

"Then I hope your invention was as brilliantly premeditated as you claimed it to be…for _your_ sake." SLADE warned, a breath of danger upon his voice.

Brother Blood staggered backwards several steps, fearing another mental lashing. His eyes remained upon SLADE as he sent an order via his small handheld device. "Breech dome shielding! Prepare to equalize air-pressure and vent chamber atmosphere, _immediately!_"

_**BRRREEEEP! BRRREEEEP!**_

A stunningly loud alarm began to echo across the obscured chamber, causing BeastBoy to wince in pain. He gritted his teeth as the sharp sound waves began to batter his ear-drums, his body thrashing against his bonds.

"BeastBoy!" Raven yelled over the din, turning her angered face towards SLADE. "You're _hurting _him!"

The deranged terrorist only shrugged, turning his attention back to the ceiling as the alarm persisted.

_**BRRREEEEP! BRRREEEEP!**_

**_CRRRRRRRRRRRR-_AAAACK! SHWOOOP!**

Raven tore her eyes from BeastBoy long enough to see the gaping hole that was forming above her. It looked as if the sky were splitting in two as a massive slit appeared, beyond the line of fog. A crystal blue light could be seen, growing brighter and brighter as the three-hundred-foot long divide in the frozen dome above the Primary Operations Control Center spread open. Like the skylight of a major sports stadium, the dome unfastened itself, to reveal the clear Arctic night.

SLADE and his small creation stood perfectly still as large chunks of ice came crashing downwards, shattering like car-sized hail upon a metal windshield. The Titans could feel the shards of ice and snow as they rained down upon the huge building beneath their feet. At the same time, they noticed how clear the air was becoming, as huge tufts of mist began to boil upwards towards the evening sky.

Quick as the process was, it seemed far too slow for some. "We're wasting time. Requiem?"

"Dude, this guy has the patience of a-_wwhhhoooaaa!" _

**_VVVRRRR-_OOOOSH!**

BeastBoy's rhetoric was cut short by the torrent of wind that tried to pull him from his chains. The swirling, dancing gale acted like a reverse whirlpool, drawing everything around it into the air. Cascades of fallen ice were swept back towards the ceiling from which they had fallen. The fog seemed to have been formed into a huge tornado, gathering the lingering trails of mist and then shooting them upwards in the super accelerated draft.

Cyborg watched the young woman through squinted eyes as she conducted her cacophony of radioactive steam. "She's gonna suck air the right _outta_ us!"

"I can-…cannot…_breathe_!" Starfire gasped, unable to inhale against the suction.

Requiem's vibrant eyes kept the surging wind in constant revolution, her own hair spinning wildly about her head. Even the huge icy prison of Blackfire teetered back and forth slightly in the undulating pulses of wind, vacuuming the entire dome of its aerial debris.

"I believe that will be _sufficient_, child." SLADE said, gesturing for Requiem to cease her invocations.

Just as suddenly as the wind had begun, it ended. As if thrust into the eye of a hurricane, the Titans found themselves surrounded by clear, cold air, devoid of any particles or obstructions. The last drafts of cloudy air spun up and out of sight, to harmlessly disperse in the dark sky.

Starfire was busy taking deep, chest filling breaths, when she happened to look upwards.

"It feels so…_warm._" she said, mostly to herself.

The Robins-egg blue of moonlight filled the platform. It washed across Starfire's battered body like a fresh spring shower, filling every pore with a general feeling of relief and warmth. Stars, distant but still bright and twinkling, dotted the jet-black continuum of space. Though her energy continued to filter way through her restraints, the reflected sunlight was a big step-up from what she had undergone recently.

She looked at her masked love, suspended nearby. His eyes were _not_ on the scenery.

At least, not on _that _scenery.

"Impressed, Robin?" SLADE queried, following the boys astounded gaze.

_Overcome_ may have been a more accurate description, since Robin's only conscious function revolved around his ever-widening eyes.

They _covered_ the chamber floor. No, covered wasn't good enough. They _smothered_ the now visible plain of ice that stretched in circular formation around the tall building. Everywhere Robin looked, whole regiments of Atlases marched to and fro in tight formation, their footsteps constant and loud. Towards his far right, Robin could see even larger machines, clearly not soldiers but still menacing in appearance. Smaller, less cumbersome SLADE-bots ran here and there, some deftly carrying out orders, others overseeing the work of fellow robots. Atlas's mechanized voice began to fill the gigantic enclosure of ice.

"…LASH THAT DOWN! BEGIN LOADING PROCEDURES…!"

"…BATTALION'S ONE AND TWO: FOR-_WARRRRD_…**MARCH**…!"

"…BEGIN SUBMARINE DIAGNOSTICS! CHECK THAT SLACK…!"

"…WEAPONS DETAIL! I WANT FOREWARD AND AFT TURRETS OPERATIONAL! _NOW_…!"

"…CANNON UNITS SIX, SEVEN, AND EIGHT TO FRIGATES! FINAL CALL…!"

"…AERIAL COORDINATES LOCKED! AWAITING LAUNCH PROTOCOLS…!"

Even though each Titan was facing inwards at the moment, each had a reasonably good view of the army of machines that surrounded the main structure. Submersibles, some as large as battleships, floated in docks dug out of the ice, each one being serviced and armed to the teeth by hundreds of drones. Other large watercraft, some visible and some hidden within the huge building, were being loaded to capacity with marching minions, each sporting nasty looking weaponry. Further up the side of the main edifice, large pad-bay doors were beginning to open, as huge, sluggish looking bomber-craft were wheeled into view. Their wings were wide and sharp like the blades of a throwing star, supporting the load of thousand-pound bombs and A.T.A. missiles.

"It's like a scene out of _Independence Day._" BeastBoy said. "Except I wanna pee myself."

"Or _Multiplicity_." Cyborg added.

"They are _everywhere_…" Starfire said, her moonlight forgotten.

"Not yet." Brother Blood said, perusing the magnificent militia. "But with the proper deployment and direction, they very soon _will_ be."

"Provided we finish this broadcast sometime _tonight._" A nasally voice crowed from the other side of the display area.

Raven whipped her head around to look at the owner of the voice. "Oi-_vey_…"

Control-Freak may have donned a militaristic new hairdo, but his holly-jolly gut was just as prominent as always. It stuck out as if he were heavy with child, as opposed to pork-rinds. He kept his fists on his hips, his confidence and bravado reminiscent of a ten-year-old. But no ten-year-old sports nearly as much acne as this swaggering couch-potato.

"My equipment has been assembled and recalibrated for the past _hour_." The boisterous teenager huffed as he approached SLADE. "I've been perfecting my wide-angle and HD micro-recording cells since I _got_ here, and now, their collecting _frost _because **you** have to do the classic 'villain posturing' thing…"

"You are prepared for reconstructive broadcast then?" SLADE interrupted.

"Prepared? _Prepared? _With all the time I've spent waiting and fine-tuning, I'm freakin' _gifted_!" the portly teen yelled, poking SLADE hard in his chest armor. "If you spent less time twiddling your thumbs and actually gave me the _go-ahead_ to-!"

**SNAG-_CRANK!_**

"AHHH!" yelled the red-headed nerd.

Robin hadn't caught it; he didn't think anyone had. In the split second it took for Control-Freak to get uppity and _way_ too close to SLADE, Requiem and traversed the thirty-foot distance between her and her master, wrenching the larger kids arm behind his back.

Starfire didn't understand the details of human anatomy. But she knew enough to know that bones don't twist that way.

"You do _not_ address the master in such a manner. Nor will you touch him so disrespectfully." Requiem informed almost innocently, her arm small but her authority unquestioned.

She twisted a little farther for emphasis. "Do I make myself _clear_?"

"_Yeah! Yeah!_ No touching! Touching equals pain! I _got_ it!" Control-Freak confirmed, amazed at the power of the girls grip.

Requiem released the young man and retook her position on SLADE's flank.

"_Thank_ you, my dear." SLADE said, having not moved during the entire incident. "I can see that your response programming is nearly complete."

"She almost broke my _arm_!" Control-Freak yelled, cradling his darkening wrist.

"Considering what she is _capable_ of, you should consider yourself lucky. I refuse to stand for insubordination…and neither will _she_." SLADE informed, delighted at the performance of his new 'tool'.

Control-Freak looked less than pleased, but still bowed his head. "Dually noted, my Lord."

"Good. Now, _show_ me these 'perfections' of yours." SLADE demanded.

Control-Freak reached into the lapel of his jacket and produced a rather large version of his TV remote-control. The wickedly designed transmitter piece began to pulse in his hands as he selected his commands, each one meticulously chosen for his demonstration.

"So what, SLADE had C.F. install cable for him or something?" Cyborg asked, directly across from Robin.

**ZING! _ZINGZING!_**

"Incoming!" Control-Freak announced proudly.

Positioned atop spinning plates of metal, zipping through the air at tremendous speed came six digital cameras, each one a different shape and size. One was as large as a small oven, another no bigger than a disposable. They all seemed to be made of Technicolor scraps of plastic, assembled with an almost Van Gogh theme in mind. Each made a very distinctive noise, giving them an insect-like feeling.

"Looks like an 'or something'." Raven said, wiggling her wrists to relieve the strain.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, SLADE and Titan's! I give you the latest in three-dimensional video recording and editing technology: The _Cine-bots_!" Control-Freak announced, his creations revolving about his head like bats at a belfry. "With these six autonomously positioning Levi-pods, I can record, present, and transmit an original image in three-dimensions, as well as modify the feed to display nearly _anything_ I want! Observe!"

One medium sized camera hovered directly in front of Control-Freak's face, emitting a horizontal beam of light, which scanned the fat-man up and down. A second later, after the recoding was complete, a second lens appeared, and began to project a super-concentrated collection of lights around the body of the pock-marked teen.

Cyborg felt his muscles tense. "_Bumblebee_?"

The short, wide young man had indeed been replaced by the tall, well curved appearance of the leader of Titan's East. Every detail was there: her striped tank-top, mocha-skin, gossamer wings, ebony hair…she even held a pair of stingers in her hands.

"A holographic _projection_?"

"Way more than a hologram, _Sparky_." said Control-Freak in _Bumblebee's_ voice.

"EEE-_Yuck_!" Cyborg recoiled in shock.

"Isn't it _awesome_?" Bumblebee continued, walking towards the circle of Titans in her tall heels, tapping across the metal. "This personality-manipulation program allows me to take the shape or form of anything I wish, as well as their voice and subtle nuances. The data is simply recorded, reconstructed, and projected upon the subject."

The Bumblebee projection gave a slow, almost seductive wink to the Cybernetic man before her. "Fooled even _you_, didn't it?"

'_I need a shower.' _Cyborg thought, feeling absolutely disgusted at the moment.

The image disengaged as soon as Control-Freak touched his remote, once more assuming his heart-disease prone form. "The image can then be flawlessly transmitted on a sub-space frequency, arriving at any location, no matter how distant, in mere _seconds_."

Raven was hearing everything that Control-Freak was saying, though her attention was not relegated to just him. She was looking past him, beyond his flabby face, to where a certain young girl was standing.

Requiem was standing as still as possible, with the exception of her head. It bobbed back and forth, watching the movements of the brightly-colored camera equipment with perplexed interest. Her face was stolid, but her _eyes_…her eyes seemed transfixed. It was almost like watching an infant as a butterfly flew over its crib; simple, childlike fascination.

'_Where have I seen that look before?' _Raven asked herself.

"Well SLADE, I'm glad you've decided to change your look. The dark, brooding bad-guy persona with the big shoulders was getting a bit cliché." BeastBoy said, getting a jibe in edgewise.

"General?" SLADE asked Brother Blood, not even looking at BB.

"Sir?" he responded.

"Give me your side-arm." SLADE ordered.

The general hastily handed his small handheld weapon over to his superior. It was silver and dark, curving over the fingers in much the same way as many of SLADE's weapons did. SLADE dialed up a powerful charge, the emitter beginning to crackle with energy.

"I believe a demonstration is in order." SLADE said over the sound of his troops on the ice below.

'_Now what is going to d-?' _

But then it hit Raven like a ton of bricks.

'_Oh, God NO…!'_

But it was too late.

"BEASTBOY!"

**T-SEEEEW! **

The particle beam seemed to light the very air aflame as it flew, almost in slow motion, from the small weapon. Raven threw her body against her chains in BeastBoys direction, vainly attempting to shield his unprotected body from thirty feet away.

She shut her eyes, unable to watch.

**Pi-_TANG!_**

**CLANGCLANG…**

"_AHH!_"

Raven opened her frightened eyes the second she heard BB cry out. She looked, afraid of what she might find.

The thick collar that had once adorned BeastBoy's neck lay upon the ground, spinning like a coin after being flipped. One side of the dense metal was untouched, whereas the other looked warped and melted. It came to rest just beneath BeastBoy's shackled feet; the energy-tether disappeared after the circuit was interrupted.

"I didn't _miss_, if that's what you're wondering, _Raven._" SLADE said, holding the weapon at his side.

Raven could see the dark-red scorch mark sitting upon BeastBoy's neck, a small trickle of blood beginning to course down his shoulder. His gritted teeth and burning flesh made it look as if he had been bitten by something ravenous, as opposed to just having his restraint shot away from his décolletage.

"Nice shot. Very _Vash-the-Stampede._" Control-Freak commented.

"What was that meant to do? What _possible_ reason could you have for **doing** that?" Robin angrily demanded.

"A simple test, my boy. I was just making sure that this weapon has the necessary output for my purposes." SLADE answered, walking back toward the center of his display area.

"If your goal was to royally _tick_ us off, you succeeded!" Cyborg said, puffing out his chest in an obvious challenge.

SLADE slowly approached the tall block of ice that encapsulated the dark sister of Starfire, placing his free hand upon the slick surface. "As pleased as I am for that reaction, I was merely making sure that this weapon would burn through three inches of _ice._"

Starfire stopped breathing for a moment, jutting her head towards SLADE who was standing dangerously close to her sister, weapon still in hand. Her eyes traced a line from the tip of the gun to her sisters' unmoving face. Puzzle pieces began to fall snugly into place, raising the panic within her breast.

"You…you _wouldn't_…she is defenseless!" Starfire announced passionately.

"Oh, I _would._" SLADE said, idly twirling the gun on his index finger as he stared at the popsicle-princess. "But not like this. Control-Freak?"

The red-haired slouch directed one of the larger cameras towards SLADE, positioning it just in front of his body. He executed a preprogrammed command, and the cameras digital scanning device began to gather all the physical data regarding the tall man.

"This is so _cool!_" Control-Freak said, nearly giggling.

"Just finish up." Brother Blood warned, smacking him in the back of his greasy head.

Once the camera finished its examination, the data was reconfigured within the imaging processor of the large device. SLADE waited patiently for the procedure to finish, indicated by a high-pitched BEEP sound.

"A delicate procedure, such as a point-blank range shot to the head, requires the _proper_ attire." SLADE said, before addressing the highly advanced device. "Run program."

Waves of strategically arranged photons began to stream outwards, covering the whole of SLADE's body. Like an anaconda as it constricts its prey, the brightly lit energy waves fitted themselves tightly to SLADE's frame, much like a second skin.

_BEEP!_

When the sequence finished, the Titans beheld a man who looked nothing like the true person beneath. It wasn't the three piece suit that shocked them, or the red necktie and black dress shoes.

It was his choice of face.

"George _Bush?_" Robin gawked.

"That's _President _Bush to you." said a Texan voice.

Had the Titans not witnessed the process themselves, each would have sworn that the leader of the free world was standing before them. The resemblance was flawless: the gray hair, rounded face, big ears, wrinkled skin, sparkly eyes…it was an exact duplicate of the commander in chief of the United States armed forces, down to his posture and southern drawl.

"It worked!" Brother Blood announced, thunderstruck.

"An impressive likeness, my Lord." Requiem praised.

BeastBoy forgot his injury long enough to make a crank. "You'd think he would pick someone that people _respect_."

The 'president' returned his dark gaze to BeastBoy, his voice unmistakable. "It doesn't really matter whether or not he's respected. What matters is that he is recognized as a person in a position of significant power; _global _power."

"Recognized by whom? _Republicans?_" Cyborg asked.

"The Joint Chiefs?" Raven asked.

The smile that crept across the face of the presidential copy-cat could have frozen the blood in the Titans' veins. "No. The Sovereign Planet of _Tameran_."

For a moment, the only noises one could hear upon the dais of that massive building were the shriek of welding devices and the steady pulse of marching feet. The cold, westerly wind from the ice fields above caused tremors in the bones of the immobile teenagers, adding to the chilling understanding that was slowly sinking into all of them.

Well, at least four of them.

"I'm not a big politics guy, but isn't that like going from _bad_ to…_nasty?_" BeastBoy asked.

"That's your 'big plan'? _Seriously? _Oh man, you're really scraping the barrel," Cyborg interrupted with false bravado. "Even for you this seems farfetched."

"The make-up, the hair, the eyes…" Raven listed out-loud. "_All_ of it designed to make Blackfire look like-"

"…Me." Starfire whispered, a hint of sadness creeping into her voice.

SLADE reached upwards and tapped his finger to his holographic nose, his smile growing.

"_Whoa-whoa-whoa_, back up!" BeastBoy yelled. "Recap: We've got an army, a psycho girl with crazy powers, SLADE dressin' like a retired cowboy, a crud load of Xinothium ore, and this all adds up to equal…_what?_"

Robin hadn't spoken the whole time. As was in his nature, he observed, learned, calculated, and drew conclusions based on what he knew. His eyes, narrow and questioning, darted from his team, to Control-Freak, to Brother Blood, to Requiem, to SLADE. Years of perfected detective work were beginning to make sense of the whole situation, a step by step process that filtered out the unnecessary and superfluous information, leaving behind a logical, unquestionable truth.

'_Sometimes, I HATE being right.' _He thought to himself.

"I understand that this person is not the most _popular_ ruler on your planet," Starfire said, buying as much time as she could. "But why use _his_ form to commit murder? Is this shrub person really capable of such heinousness?"

SLADE looked at Robin: he knew the young boy had the answer already.

"No," Robin admitted, fixing his deadliest stare upon the hologram. "But _Galfore_ doesn't know that."

BeastBoy has the ability to change into any animal at will, living or extinct. As a result, he is endowed with certain characteristics that make him someone unique from other human beings, the most obvious of which being his green skin and pointed ears.

He's also pretty good at sensing the point in which a bad situation gets much worse.

"You've got nothing to _gain_ from this." BeastBoy insisted, drawing SLADE's attention away from his frozen captive. "There's no profit in it."

"Incorrect. The _President_ of the _United States_ has nothing to gain from this." SLADE said, his disguise doing the talking. "But SLADE has _everything_ to gain."

"You would risk _battle_ between my planet and _yours_? You would _deliberately_ trigger a futile intergalactic confrontation?" Starfire asked, appalled by the idea.

"But Galfore wouldn't _do_ that, would he? Attack based solely on the propaganda of this _schmuck_?" Cyborg asked, looking at Robin.

Robin was silent. Starfire too.

The fake president gestured with his gray head. "You should direct that question to Starfire. She is, after all, an expert on the politics concerning Tamaranian military strategies, aren't you, _princess_?

Raven looked at her friend, trying to read her sunken face. "Star? What does he mean?"

Starfire hung from her chains like a marionette without a puppeteer. Her hair covered her eyes, but her tears caught the moonlight from above, subtle diamonds upon a stricken face.

When she spoke again, her voice was choppy and full of angered certainty. "Any aggressor that harms a member of the Royal Family, excluding the family itself, is considered an enemy of the crown."

"Then what happens if someone kills the heir to the throne?" Robin asked, already aware of the truth.

SLADE enjoyed the fact that Starfire had to actually _say_ every word.

"The execution of the heir to the throne…constitutes an act of _war_." Starfire said.

Cyborg glanced back at the multitude of soldiers below him. _'He's not serious…' _

"I love alien foreign policy," SLADE finished, "And this particular planet has adopted the procedure of 'Shoot now, ask Later'. The broadcast of the most powerful man on Earth as he _executes_ a woman who looks exactly like our young princess here…will be nothing short of a call to arms for the _entire _Tamaranian military."

"Dr. Chang and Dr. Light are perfecting a Xinothium Pulse Engine atop the power plant." Brother Blood said, gazing towards a large structure just beyond the Titan's range of sight. "Chang's expertise in Xinothium weaponry and Light's knowledge of photonic-force fields have created a weapon powerful enough to get Galfore's attention, just _before_ the broadcast begins."

"What are you planning to do with _that_?" BeastBoy demanded.

"Should the pompous warmonger need any _additional_ coaxing to declare war on Earth," SLADE said, "I'm going to destroy the capital city…and anyone _else_ within twenty clicks."

Starfire lunged forward, her sadness replaced with hate. "There are children and _elderly_ throughout the capital! They have done _nothing_ to you!"

"Their deaths will hasten the deployment of your governments interplanetary forces." General Blood said as a dark red returned to his eyes. "The trajectory of the attack will be easily traced back to Earth's general location in this sector of the galaxy, as will the _transmitting _signal from Control-Freak's broadcast."

"Though _your _planets numbers are far out shadowed by the population of earth, their technology is ultimately superior. The combined forces of Earth's military versus the entire Tamaranian Offensive Fleet," SLADE told Starfire, finally destabilizing the holographic projection around his body. "A conflict of _epic_ proportions."

"_War of the Planets _will have **nothing** on this battle." Control Freak mused excitedly.

BeastBoy finally spoke up, his head spinning with all the new information running through it. "But if they're so evenly matched, wouldn't they eventually destroy each other? _And _the planet?"

"Exactly." Requiem confirmed, a babyish smile playing across her lips.

The shape shifter gave a confused, half glance to the white-haired woman. It was clear that he had missed something.

His facial expression, oddly enough, actually seemed to amuse the hybrid. "You still do not understand, _do_ you?"

BB didn't answer.

"The world _you_ know…the misshapen, unorganized, chaotic world…will be wiped from the face of this planet, along with any other legitimate force that might oppose Lord SLADE." Requiem began, her voice deepening slightly as she slowly walked towards the chained boy.

"The _infection_ known as the human race will cease to exist as the _dominant_ species of this world, having been reduced to _ashes_ by a war based on nothing but circumstantial evidence and slight-of-hand." She continued, her eyes locked with BeastBoy's.

"And I suppose you'll make sure of that? You'll help this _nutcase_ in destroying everything?" BeastBoy inquired snidely.

"No. We will watch, and wait." Requiem continued in her Jinx-like voice, now only three feet from where BeastBoy hung. "And from the destruction, we shall reap the benefits of a _new_ world…a _cleansed_ world."

Requiem turned suddenly and gestured to the soldiers and weapons scattered upon the ice below. "This army will tighten our grip upon the planet, enforcing our rule and guaranteeing our supremacy over what remains of those worthless _humans_."

Her eyes drifted to her creator, her voice soft with programmed admiration. "A new Eden will rise…under the rule of SLADE."

The soon-to-be dictator, now in his _original_ form, placed his arm at his waist, bowing slightly. "Well _spoken_, Requiem. I couldn't have done better myself."

BeastBoy looked at Raven across the platform, her eyes riveted upon the girl who stood before him. He wondered just how much of Raven was stolen to create this girl, who reminded him of her, but was still so different from the original.

It posed a question in his mind. "I suppose I shouldn't blame you for what you're saying, Requiem."

Every pair of eyes looked directly at BeastBoy, Requiem included; she didn't look pleased. "_What_?"

"All this anger, all this hate, all this…_evil _that you're showing us," BeastBoy listed. "I know it's just a part of your programming. You can't help but feel this way."

SLADE stepped forward slightly. "Are you so dense, boy? She doesn't feel at _all_."

But Requiem addressed the statement regardless, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You imply that I know _nothing_ of what I speak?"

"I know that the only reason that you feel this way is because _he_ designed you to." BeastBoy said, jutting his head at SLADE, not breaking eye-contact. "He's filled you with hatred since he began growing you in a tube. Its all you've _known_ during your short time here."

Raven felt something beginning to build within the psychotically powerful girl. _'Doesn't he EVER know when to shut up?' _

"By your logic, reducing your friend to a pile of molten titanium would bring satisfaction _only_ to my master." Requiem implied, pointing her hand in Cyborgs general direction. "Something tells me that this is not _entirely_ true."

"But you have no _reason_ to do it, just as you have no _reason_ for letting the human race and the Tamaranian people destroy each other." BeastBoy insisted. "You're only doing it because SLADE _wants_ it to happen."

"And I suppose your reasons for _defending _the people of this world outshine my desire for its destruction?" Requiem spat.

"Yes."

"Then _tell_ me!" the girl demanded, grabbing BeastBoy by his injured neck. "Tell me _why_ you strive to protect those who are so different from you! Tell me _what_ is worth protecting so dearly in this world!"

BeastBoy recoiled, uncomfortable with the girls touch and proximity.

He choked out whatever came to mind "Our freedoms…our ability to change…the stuff we haven't _invented_ yet…"

"I can sense when someone _lies_ to me, BeastBoy," Requiem reminded him, tightening her grip. "Try again."

'_Honesty, huh?' _BeastBoy thought hastily, digging deep.

Then it came to him.

From across the way, Raven could see BeastBoy's dark eyes as he briefly, but directly, looked her way.

"…the people we _care_ about." he stated, using his last bit of breath.

Requiem and Raven both seemed to hesitate; one out of confusion, the other from emotional over stimulation. Both young women were confused as to how to proceed, since BeastBoy's declaration had caused two very different things to occur.

One of them abruptly felt _empty_, the other, suddenly _whole_.

"Humans typically call that 'Love', don't they?" Requiem asked, slowly releasing the green boy.

BeastBoy took a deep breath. "Yes. Some do."

Requiem seemed puzzled, her arm lowering to her side for a moment, causing Cyborgs panicked expression to ease slightly.

'_Little squirt almost got me fried.' _Cyborg thought.

"I have heard of this feeling, but of course, I do not know it." Requiem said. "It eludes me."

"You need not trouble yourself with such _frivolous_ pursuits, Requiem." SLADE said, gesturing towards Robin. "It only serves to catapult those with tremendous potential down the path of _defeat_."

"But why does he wish to protect it so _badly_, my Lord?" Requiem asked, her eyes still on BeastBoy. "Where does such motivation come from?"

"Misguided aspirations of happiness and completion, usually originating from lustful desires." SLADE said. "Nothing more."

"If that is so," Requiem stated, drawing new conclusions based on that knowledge. "Does the fulfillment of that desire _end_ the need for it?"

SLADE lowered his head, his patience beginning to waver. "There is no way to determine such things. Questing for answers that do not exist is a waist of _time._"

"Then I must determine so for myself." Requiem said flatly, grabbing BeastBoy by the face.

"Hey, what the _heck_ are you-_Mmmmumnnumpfpf!_"

BeastBoy's outrage was cut short as Requiem forced her lips upon his!

"Oh _dear_…" Starfire said, her nose wrinkling slightly.

Raven felt every hair upon her head stand straight up when she saw what was unfolding before her. The soft white hair of the young girl was long and thick, but it didn't obscure her view of Requiem as she forced herself upon BeastBoy. Her eyes were closed and her grip was firm, giving the bug-eyed BB no chance of escape. His arms pulled wildly at his chains and his legs kicked for all they were worth, but his face remained stapled to the young girls, unable even to look away. Raven couldn't take her eyes off of the disgusting scene, and neither could anyone else.

"_Yuck_." Control-Freak said, sticking out his tongue.

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with _tub-o_ over hear." Cyborg said, his aluminum stomach feeling as though it would empty at any second.

After what seemed like hours, Requiem relinquished her hold over the green boy, pulling backwards to look at him. Her face looked unchanged.

BeastBoy's looked practically _incensed_. "Are you _**mental**? _What the _heck_ did you do **_that_ **for?"

Requiem answered very calmly. "I merely wished to corroborate that this common physical expression of 'Love' brings about the requisite feelings."

The small device upon SLADE's shoulder had begun to flicker violently.

"And _what_ have you ascertained?" SLADE asked peevishly.

Requiem looked BeastBoy up and down, side to side, before shoving his head away callously. "_Nothing_...nothing but disappointment."

Raven looked hopefully at BeastBoy as he stretched his jaw back and forth, his tongue scraping against his teeth out of disgust. The look in his eyes suggested that he had just swallowed turpentine.

Requiem walked back to SLADE, her face just as blank as it had been before she approached BeastBoy.

Raven's face burned holes in Requiem during her entire walk back.

'_We'll settle up later, witch.' _Bravery said in Raven's mind. _'Don't go too far.'_

"The pieces are set and the board is ready." SLADE said, facing his captives once more. "In two hours, my Xinothium Engine will have reached full power. An hour after its detonation, the capital city and royal palace of Tameran will lie in ruins, as the broadcast of Starfire's supposed execution streams throughout all intergalactic frequencies. Galfore will have no choice but to launch an all-out offensive against this planet, condemning the remainder of his people, and humans, to certain destruction."

Starfire was about to speak, but SLADE cut her off before she could. "_Yes_, princess, I know that you would eagerly and _nobly_ sacrifice your own life in place of your sisters. Despite her multiple betrayals of both you and your people, I know you would rather give your own life instead of watching her die."

"Then why not _let_ me?" Starfire said, despite Robin's frantic gestures to the contrary. "Why not kill the _real_ Starfire as opposed to an imitation? The illusion would still be complete, would it not?"

"Yes, but you see my dear, I am very eager for you to _witness _your sisters death." SLADE said, pointing his disruptor for emphasis. "Just as I want Robin to witness _yours._"

"You _sick_, _son-of-a_…"

"Sticks and Stones, my former apprentice." SLADE said, extending his armed hand towards Blackfire, his finger on the trigger.

"Before I begin the systematic annihilation of everything you hold dear, _Robin_," SLADE asked, his one eye focused on the masked boy. "I must ask: do you have any parting words?"

Robin looked to Starfire, her beautiful face already stained with tears of grief over her sisters' fate. Raven looked completely drained, her head hanging lower than he had ever seen it. Cyborg and BeastBoy could only hang and watch, unable to even make eye contact with each other or him.

The Teen Titans were on their last legs, physically and emotionally.

Robin, the Boy Wonder, raised his head one more time.

"Yeah. I do." He told SLADE as he began to look at Starfire.

His head unexpectedly jutted towards Cyborg. "_NOW!" _

_**P-TOOOF!**_

_**CLING! SCHWING!**_

A Birdarang rocketed outwards from a hidden cavity in Cyborgs chest panel! It smacked the weapon from SLADE's hand and continued forward to sever the chain binding Robins right arm!

_SCHWIP!_

Robin grabbed the corner of his mask and flicked a small switch. The material instantaneously became rigid, popping off of his face and into his hand.

"_RAVEN!_" he barked, throwing his mask like a ninja-star.

**_THWAP! _CHHOOM!**

A direct hit! The mask now protruded from the small glowing mechanism on SLADE's shoulder, his attempt to block it being unsuccessful. Sparks flew in all directions as the panel went blank, ceasing to function.

"Azarath, _Metrion_, _**Zinthos**!_"

The bonds upon Raven's arms and legs shattered like cheap glass, her body coming alive again with her renewed abilities. Dark surges of telekinetic energy flowed like water from her fingertips, basking her in the glow of her incredible powers once more.

"_BEASTBOY!_" Robin yelled again.

His head now free of his morph-inhibiting collar, BeastBoy's neck began to stretch and warp until his skull resembled the head of a Plesiosaurus, his two foot mouth filled with razor sharp teeth.

_**CHOMP!**_

In one single stretch, BeastBoy traversed the distance between himself and Starfire using only his neck, and bit savagely through her handcuffs, reducing them to scrap-metal. Her hands, charged a bright green, were now free.

"_STARFIRE!_"

_**SCHEEW! SCHEEW! **_

Two precisely aimed Star bolts disintegrated the massive shackles that still bound Cyborgs hands, the metal melting like margarine around his wrists. His fingers free, Cyborg ripped his last restraints away, and charged SLADE!

"EEEE-_YAAAAAHHH!_" he bellowed, punching Brother Blood in the chest with one fist.

But Requiem was quicker, holding her hand outwards. "Halt!"

Cyborg jumped to one side, grabbed Requiem by her small forearm, and pulled her into the air.

"_My_ turn!"

Cyborg began to spin, his legs stationery but his upper body revolving like a top at his waistline. The centrifugal force of his weight combined with Requiems propelled her into the air, her face the epitome of confusion.

"Have a nice _flight_!" Cy winked, just before he let go.

Requiem was catapulted up and out of the massive underground chamber, her body spinning end over end as it faded into the night sky. Cyborg watched as her body became fainter and fainter, almost disappearing among the stars.

"_CYBORG!" _Robin ordered.

Without a word, Cyborg brushed past SLADE, still clutching his arm, and wrapped his huge arms around the hefty block of ice. With a mighty yank, he freed the massive object from its position upon the platform. As he turned around to face his friends, he inadvertently smacked Control-Freak fiercely in the head, knocking him unconscious as he attempted to stop the Cybernetic Organism.

When SLADE finally looked up, his arm still tingling and his eye somewhat confused, he saw a familiar sight.

Five teenagers, and one block of ice, stood before him. Each was unbound, defiantly squaring off with the masked man. In the course of less than thirty seconds, they had freed themselves from their seemingly impenetrable restraints, recovered Blackfire, and reacquired their abilities.

The now mask-less Robin stepped forward, his eyes full of zeal.

"Contingency plan, SLADE." The boy smiled, tapping his temple. "_Always _have a contingency plan."

With that, Raven stepped forward, engulfed her friends in a bird-shaped aura of dark energy, and teleported them through the floor.

The Titans were gone.

SLADE stood at his full height, adjusting his armor and removing the damaged kinetic-flux inhibitor from his shoulder. As Brother Blood came to his feet and approached SLADE from behind, the villain jerked the stiffened mask from the shredded metal, looking it over.

"Touché, Robin." SLADE said, crushing the wiry material in his big hand.

"Your orders, my Lord?" Brother Blood inquired, just as Requiem came floating back down to Earth, her face a deep red.

"Isn't it obvious?" SLADE inquired, his eye shining blue once more.

Brother Blood shook his head slightly, just before SLADE hoisted him off the ground by his collar.

"Bring…them…_**BACK**._"


	20. Goaded

To all those who have been wondering where I've been, I can only say this: I've lost someone important to me. Someone I loved. And, as a result, I have been absent from many things, including my writing. My deepest apologies to those who were angered by my abrupt leave of absence. I will do my best to be more consistent with chapter postings in the future. I hope this lengthy chunk of my story will, in some way, make up for my four months of silence. Until next time.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.

**Chap. 20: Goaded **

"THERE THEY GO!"

"ON YOUR LEFT!"

"STOP THEM!"

"DO _NOT_ LET THEM ESCAPE"

Such was the commotion taking place upon the massive plain of ice, stretching for nearly a mile in every direction at the foot of the huge structure one-thousand feet below the surface of Antarctica. Every Atlas within earshot was instantly alerted to the Titans' presence as they made a break for the exits, some five-thousand feet away.

To say the least, the situation was tense.

"Must go _faster_, must go _**faster**…_" Cyborg encouraged loudly, his eyes looking worriedly over his shoulder.

'_I swear, if he spurs me with those Frankenstein-feet of his ONE more time…' _BeastBoy the stallion thought, galloping full out with his heavy passenger.

"Look out!" Robin yelled.

_**CROOMCROOM! CROOMCROOM!**_

**BOOOOM!**

BeastBoy whinnied in distress as a pot-hole of snow exploded next to his right flank. The red flashes of several discharging Heat-cannons nearly blinded him, the report loud and unsettling even at this range. He barely avoided the flying shards, jutting right, loosing some momentum as he continued to barrel across the ice.

"Are you two _alright_?" Raven yelled from above.

"BB's _OK_, I think," Cyborg said, patting the green, muscular neck of his best friend. "How's _your_ passenger?"

"A little…_stiff_." Raven said, unaware of the pun until it had already escaped her lips.

BeastBoy was able to cock his head to one side just far enough to see the flying psychic above him. Suspended above her head, wrapped in a cocoon of dark energy, was the frozen prison of Blackfire. It literally floated above Raven's head as she soared through the now clear cavern air.

"You wouldn't think she would be so _heavy_." Raven said as she flew, attempting to locate the origin of the shot that almost hit BeastBoy.

"Knowing her, half of that weight is probably _ego_." Robin said, immediately regretting his attempt at levity as he looked upwards. "Uh…_sorry_, Star."

Starfire looked down at the unmasked boy whom she carried in her arms. "It is alright, Robin. I take no offense. My sister has certainly earned herself at least _some_ criticism for the trouble she has caused."

'_SOME?' _BeastBoy thought as he ran.

"Could we move it along, please?" Cyborg insisted, looking back again. "We've suddenly become _very_ popular."

Robin craned his neck around to look; Cyborg wasn't kidding.

An entire squad of Atlases was hot on the heels of the fleeing Titans, each of the ten robots perched atop a hover-board constructed of a transparent, almost glass-looking material. Every mammoth machine had their right arms raised and trained upon the teenagers, their hand components replaced by glowing red spheres of energy.

"HALT, TITANS! YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ATLAS! IT IS A FUTILE ATTEMPT!" one of the ten bellowed.

"Even his _duplicates _have an inferiority complex." Raven observed.

"And _way_ faster methods of travel." Robin said, doing some quick calculations as he was carried through the cold air. "They'll be on us in two minutes, tops."

"And we are still eight of your minutes from the safety of the tunnels." Starfire said, traveling just above and to the right of BeastBoy. "Assuming they are still traversable."

"If we can just keep up this speed…" Raven said.

_**CROOMCROOM!**_

**_Ker-_CHOOM!**

"Ahhh!"

"Raven!" BeastBoy yelled, suddenly de-morphing.

"Aw, not _again_…" Cyborg muttered.

**_Ba-da-da-_BAM!**

Cyborg came tumbling to the ice like a skipping-stone once more, as BeastBoy disappeared from beneath his body, somersaulting back to his feet just in time to see Raven as she crashed to the ground.

"Sister!" Starfire cried, catching the falling block as it was thrown into the air, Robin back flipping out of her grasp.

BeastBoy sprinted at an angle, catching up to Raven's fallen form as soon as she stopped skittering across the ice, his own shoes loosing traction as he ran. He was almost to her when another volley was fired.

"B! Heads up!" Cyborg yelled as he got to his feet.

**_Buh-_BAM! BAM!**

Steam and ice erupted on either side of the fallen pair, the extreme heat and cold causing temperature variations all over the immediate vicinity. Cyborg couldn't tell the difference between the superheated water-vapor and the heat signature of his friends' bodies.

"BeastBoy! Rae! _Where are you?_" Cyborg hollered as he ran towards the swirling cloud of mist.

"Cy! Check your six!" Robin warned from behind.

Cyborg spun around just in time to see a massive ball of red-hot energy headed for his face!

"Whoa!"

_**DOOOOM!**_

Starfire sighed with relief as she watched Cyborg cross his arms before his head, the heavy armor taking the brunt of the shot. Cyborg peeked menacingly over his crossed wrists, eyeing the Atlas that had shot at him.

He lowered his still smoking forearms. "You want a **piece** of me, punk?"

The ten hovering robots had stopped their pursuit, remaining in one stationery position above the ice. Their built in projectile weapons hung at their sides, charged and ready.

"INSECTS! HOW DARE YOU SHOW SUCH IMPUDENCE? ATLAS FINDS NO CHALLENGE IN FIGHTING SUCH WEAKLINGS!" the large robot scoffed.

"If you're just scared, that's fine too." Cyborg said, smiling as he assumed a fighting stance.

The lead drone scowled with programmed hate, leaning forward to accelerate the propulsion of his hovercraft. "THEN FACEYOUR _BETTER_, HUMAN!"

Cyborg remained unmoved as the huge machine charged him, its left fist prepped for a strike. The machine was less than five feet away, pulled back his pile-driver arm…

_**Ker-SHANG! SSiziiizizillezizizllezizizl…**_

The drones' assault was cut short as a large horn, two feet long with a wickedly pointed tip, impaled the tough metal like the tip of a harpoon. Blue-green electricity warped and danced across the dull red eyes of the robot, before dimming, and then going blank.

BeastBoy the Rhinoceros lowed deeply and shook his large head, dislodging the punctured drone from his boney weapon. The body fell to the ice in pieces, just as BeastBoy reassumed his human form, Raven dismounting the large green back of the animal beneath her.

"That's BeastBoy _one_, Atlas _zero_." BB said, smiling triumphantly.

"And Cyborg _three_: as in you still _owe _me three." Cyborg reminded the green-teen. "_Four_ if you count how you almost got me _pan-fried_ back there."

"You were never in any danger." BeastBoy protested, remembering the incident. "I knew exactly what I was doing."

"Since when do you ever know _exactly_ what you're doing?" Cyborg said, putting his hands on his wide metal hips. "You can't cook breakfast without setting something in the kitchen on **fire**."

"Well at least I don't open _time_-rifts when I set up a surround-sound system!" BeastBoy insisted, jabbing his finger into Cyborgs chest.

"Oh yeah? Well I-!"

_**CROOMCROOM!**_

"Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"

The two arguing Titans watched as a black, pulsating shield formed around their bodies, just before two fiery concussion blasts could reach their mark.

_**Bam-BAM!**_

"This _really _isn't the time or place!" Raven yelled, lowering her shield as she hovered nearby. "Fight drones now, fight each other _later_!"

Cyborg nodded their acknowledgment to her, and then to each other, silently promising to get the other back…but afterwards.

Starfire was already in the thick of it by the time Raven and BeastBoy rejoined the princess and their leader. "Star! Behind you!"

Starfire spun around just in time to catch a flying fist the size of her upper body. She stood her ground next to the fallen block containing her sister, and heaved upwards.

"HEEEEE-_YAH!_" she yelled.

The red eyes of the Atlas soldier went wide as he suddenly found himself spinning end over end through the air, to abruptly land face down in the ice.

**_Ker-_CLANG!**

"Excellent release." Robin said.

"Robin…!" Starfire began, but she didn't have to finish.

_**BAM!**_

Robin back-flipped into the air just before a heat blast destroyed his former position upon the ice. He arched effortlessly through the air, over the head of the attacking drone, to come down heavily with his steel-lined boot.

**_Ker-_THWACK!**

The head of the drone came spinning off of the large shoulders of the robot, acting like a Frisbee with a rather confused look upon its' face. The now headless frame sparkled and crackled for a moment, before the top-heavy machine came tumbling to the ground.

"…never mind." Starfire smiled in relief as she re-charged her star-bolts.

Above the din of the close-quarters conflict, Robin managed to signal his other female team-mate. "Raven! Can't you teleport us out of here?"

Raven responded, propelling Blackfire's ice-chamber just beyond the firing range of a drone. "Get everyone closer together! Form a circle on me!"

Robin gestured to the other boys, ordering them to direct their fighting inwards, towards Raven's position upon the ice. Cyborg ducted a potentially crippling blow dealt by a nearby Atlas, and BeastBoy quickly morphed into a cheetah, taunting his adversary in the desired direction.

_**CROOMCROOM!**_

_**Bam-BAM!**_

Chips of razor sharp ice-shrapnel flew past Starfire's face, the red light causing her to squint. "The situation has become sufficiently 'gnarly', as you might say! I wish to leave, please!"

"Working on it!" Cyborg said, his back nearly to Robins as he fended off his attacker.

"Ready when you are!" BeastBoy yelled, quickly morphing from human to lemur to avoid the thunderous blows of the advancing robot.

Raven hovered above her friends, their various battles formed in a loose circle below her and the hovering ice block. She crossed her legs beneath her body, rested her hands upon her knee's, and slowly began to conjure.

'_Pick a location, Raven.' _She told herself, trying to determine a safe distance and re-materialization spot. _'Somewhere safe…somewhere far from here…'_

"I don't mean to rush you…" Robin said, blowing out the small fire upon his cape. "But could you _hurry_, please?"

"Sometime today would be nice!" Cyborg said, wrestling a detached Atlas hand from his shoulder.

'_Think Raven…where can we go from here? Where is a good place to regroup…?' _her subconscious continued to drone.

"What do you want, a written _invitation_?" BeastBoy yelled, beating one Atlas with its own leg while in the form of a green orangutan.

'_The crash site!' _Raven decided, her eyes opening with an eerie glow.

"Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"

A dark aura bubble rose up around her team-mates, shutting off their respective attackers. Robin barely had enough time to free his arm from the vice-like grip of one Atlas soldier, before his surroundings went dark and his body lost its corporeal form. A moment later, he, and his team, had disappeared below the surface of the ice.

Raven was yet again in a state of total concentration. Her ability to dematerialize both herself and the other titans could only be maintained through immense metal control. In much the same way as a liquid evaporating into a gas, Raven had not altered her physical body. She had merely deconstructed both it, and her friends, into something that all living creatures are comprised of: energy. The management, transportation, and reconstruction of that energy required the majority of her attention; getting the titans through the glacier, to the crash site, and them rebuilding them with all fingers and toes attached, is _not_ an easy feat.

Raven felt a stillness enveloping her aura. The trillions and trillions of atoms that surrounded her were in a state of slow, almost sluggish movement. The frozen water could have been yards or miles thick, hardened over hundreds of years. But as both she, and any chemist could tell you, the ice was far from inactive. Though solid, the atomic particles within the ice, and the energy frequencies within those particles, were in a constant state of motion, allowing her to transport all five of her companions through, and out, of that underground deathtrap.

That is, of course, until she hit a road-block.

**Ka-FWUMP. **

Raven's particles reared backwards, as if she had been struck. Although she didn't really have a head at the moment, it felt as though she had struck her skull against a brick-wall.

She tried again, this time spreading outwards, looking for rifts or cracks in this invisible obstruction.

**Ka-FWUMP.**

The same thing happened again! No matter where she turned or what she tried, she could not secure passage though whatever it was that blocked her path. It was as if she were swimming, blindfolded, up to the surface of an Olympic sized diving pool, only to realize that the pool had been sealed off by cement.

The loose collection of atoms that comprised the rational thought processes of her brain were beginning to sound an alarm within her 'body'. She would not be able to maintain her current composition, or that of her friends, for much longer. She needed to rematerialize.

Ravens' atoms did an about-face, or as much of an about-face as the laws of physics are concerned, and headed back in the general direction from whence she came.

About three hundred yards from where they had disappeared, the Teen Titans suddenly sprouted from the ice, the aura bubble dissipating as they regained their physical forms.

BeastBoy was the first to notice that something was amiss, his eyes crossed and his ears vibrating. "Did everything just taste periwinkle for a second there?"

"As soon as I figure out which way is up, I'll let you know." Cyborg said as he stood, his legs wobbly and his face puckered.

Robin addressed Raven as she held her head between her palms. "What happened? What went wrong?"

Raven couldn't give him a clear answer, because she didn't have one. "I…I don't know. I couldn't teleport us through the ice."

"Is it because of your wound?" Starfire asked, perplexed at the fact that her uniform was suddenly on backwards.

"No, it…it was almost as if…I don't know, a _barrier_ had been put up around the ice. One I couldn't breech." Raven said, removing her hood.

"What an excellent description," came an almost lyrical voice from above.

BeastBoy snapped his head upwards with enough force to give himself whip-lash. His eyes showed no sign of pain; only shock.

"Requiem…!" Robin hissed, automatically deploying his Bo staff.

The titans once more beheld the snowy-haired semi-deity, floating like a feather on a slight updraft. Her arms were crossed and her face was pleasant, in a cat-that-hath-cornered-the-mouse kind of way. She couldn't have been more that fifteen feet away, and maybe teen feet above the ice, her hair gently tussled about her head in a serene, almost peaceful manner.

None of the titans felt reverence for this 'serenity', however.

"How did you block my teleportation?" Raven demanded, squaring off with the hybrid.

Requiem tilted her head slightly. "Surely you know the answer to that, don't you, Raven?"

"There is no answer, because it ain't possible!" Cyborg yelled, his cannon trained on the girl. "Nothing is too dense or two complex for Raven's powers to overcome."

The girl regarded the seven-foot-tall teen, but in voice only; her eyes remained on Raven.

"True. Unless, of course, her energy pattern can be mapped and its frequency duplicated." Requiem narrated with a note of snobbery in her voice. "It is, in actuality, quite easy to accomplish."

Starfire's hands hummed with energy, her eyes wary. "What are you talking about? What is this 'frequency' she speaks of?"

Robin clenched his sore jaw, decoding Requiem's statement. "It means that she's boxed us in. We can't teleport out of here."

"Correct." Requiem said, one foot pointing towards the ice in a deliberate fashion. "My shield is comprised of the same basic energy particles as Raven's, effectively rebounding any attempt to penetrate it. She is a part of me, after all. And since my powers are practically limitless in potential, I can maintain said shield with little effort and at great distance."

The goblin-like smile reappeared upon her lips, a slight cloud of breath accenting her words like a wisp of poison. "You're staying here, Raven; indefinitely."

"Does that mean you're gonna take us on yourself this time?" Cyborg challenged. "Or are you gonna keep hiding behind that cock-eyed Trigon reject?"

BeastBoy expected the girl to flip out at Cyborgs comment, and braced himself for the worse. But instead of going 'Carrie' on Cyborg and the other teens, Requiem simply placed her hands together, almost as if she was praying.

'_This can't be good…' _BeastBoy thought, tensing his muscles.

The floating powerhouse slowly closed and opened her eyes, her mouth a placid line.

"God's cannot be moved, even to fight their enemies." She whispered, her aura beginning to flex.

"But they can move others."

Requiem opened her clasped hands as if she were opening a small book. As she did, Raven could feel a fissure begin to open before her. It seemed as though a cork had been pulled out of the air, and the atmosphere was being drained away. A light, harsh and sudden, appeared before the titans, opening in the same way as Requiem's hands.

"She tares at the very fabric of _reality_…!" Starfire gasped, her eyes squinting against the rupture.

The half-circle of beaming light was level with the slick ground, pulsating against ice and air alike. The doorway, as it were, was completely open now.

"FOREWARD…_MARCH!_" boomed a voice.

Before the titans could move out of the way, twenty Atlas drones, each armed to the teeth, marched out of the large opening, their foot-falls heavy upon the ice. Everything the drones did displayed the epitome of programmed efficiency. Their eyes faced forwards, their weapons shouldered, their marching deliberate in the direction designated by the lead drone.

"HALT!"

The drones stopped, as still as stone, in their tracks. As they did so, Requiem closed her hands, sealing up the rift within the air, shutting away the harsh light of her own teleportation rift.

"Besides," Requiem began, her face full of mock-curiosity, "Why should I dirty my own hands, and deny these soldiers the pleasure of delivering your broken bodies to my feet?"

The titans backed up, knowing what was coming next as Requiem called the attention of the robots.

"Drones…?" Requiem commanded softly, pointing a delicate finger. The battle-droids snapped their heads towards her, completely obedient.

"_Fetch._"

Tunnel vision is a funny thing. It is often described as a limited, narrow observation of the events taking place around a person. It can be attributed to prolonged stints of war or battle, and can also lead to post traumatic stress disorder, or 'shell shock'.

The fact that none of the titans had developed such a disorder, despite their choice of life-style, is nothing short of a miracle.

It was as if you were watching a silent movie. Or, rather, that the titans were. Every punch that Robin threw, every kick that Cyborg delivered, every arm BeastBoy bit off…seemed to be occurring outside the range of human hearing. The star-bolts that lit the air an impressive green; their impacts could not be heard. The black telekinetic energy that levitated and crushed three drones a once; the explosions could be felt, but not heard.

Such was the battle between the original Teen Titans and the small platoon of Atlas soldiers. Although the sounds of the fighting did indeed fill the massive cavern beneath the Arctic surface, the ears of the titans were deaf to their echoes. An atmosphere of combat had descended upon the five desperate teens; for a time, nothing else existed outside the titans own private street-fight.

After nearly twenty minutes, bits and pieces of sound began to reemerge. BeastBoy could barely hear the sound of Robin's painful gasps as Starfire attempted to tie a suture around his damaged calf. Raven could feel the powerful shockwaves of Cyborgs punches as he beat his fist into the crushed facial cavity of a downed drone. Steam filled the air from the various concussion blasts, exploding star-bolts, and sonic detonations that scarred the ice for one-hundred yards in all directions. Indistinct echoes still reverberated against the walls of the cavern, some over a mile away.

And through it all, despite the days of physical and emotional tumult, stood the Titans: barely able to move, but still alive.

Requiem appraised the situation from a fair distance. "Impressive. Ultimately irrelevant, but still; impressive."

BeastBoy would have savored the opportunity to respond with some cutting remark or an obscene gesture. At the moment, however, his throat would not function, and he hadn't any strength left to lift that one special finger, let alone his whole arm.

He settled for a dirty look, and fell back upon his knees.

Cyborg approached his friends from the rear, his knuckles dented and his chest-armor fractured. "Everything _hurts_…"

"Tell me about it." Raven said softly, ripping away part of her cloak to dab at the fresh blood dripping from her shoulder.

"I believe we are 'up Excrement River neglecting a propelling device'." Starfire said wearily, tossing a robotic torso section away from her bruised midriff.

"More or less. OW!" Robin winced, pulling small pieces of shrapnel out of the forearm he had used to shield himself. "Did we miss any?"

"I don't think I have the strength…to sit up…and look around." BB wheezed, his back now flat against the ruined ice.

"I got rid of the last one." Raven said, approaching the small huddle of her team-mates, gesturing vaguely. "I sent every one of its nuts and bolts flying towards the ceiling. It's in a pile somewhere over there."

"I guess we win then." Cyborg said, repositioning his head upon his shoulders. "Not that it matters, what with Beelzebub's niece hoverin' over us like that."

Robin laid his injured arm upon the ice, his wound leaving little speckles of blood upon the slick blue surface. "It would be no fun otherwise."

BeastBoy caught that comment, though he didn't quite understand it. "Come again?"

Raven joined BB by sitting across from him on the ice. "Requiem knows that there would be no sport in simply killing us. She brought the drones here to fight us for her…_entertainment_, more than anything else."

"I have detected no weakness, no lapse in power, from this…_girl_." Starfire said, growling the last word. "I doubt even a full frontal assault would be a sufficient tactic, tempting though the idea may be."

Cyborgs smile was wry. "She'd bat us away like flies."

Once Raven was sure that all her friends' injuries had been attended to, she took another look up at the floating test-tube baby. During the duration of the fight, Requiem had not interfered. If anything, she had given the titans and the drones all the necessary space they had required. It was only after the fight had ceased that she had dared to venture closer.

"I don't suppose that trick works on metal, does it?" Cyborg asked after his organic lesions had been healed.

Raven didn't answer as she healed Cyborg. Her face was still fixated upon Requiem.

"What is it?" BeastBoy asked ash he approached, following Ravens gaze. "What's wrong?"

When she spoke, her face never turned. "It's just…strange."

"What is?" Starfire asked, flanking her friend.

Robin ventured a guess. "Requiems' behavior?"

"Among other things, yes." Raven said, re-clasping her cloak about her neck.

"Uh, Raven? Strange is a relative term, given what we've seen over the last few days." Cyborg said.

"Why did she let me heal the four of you?" Raven asked, finally facing her friends.

BeastBoy raised a finger, did a mental double-take, and closed his mouth.

But Robin had an idea. "She's…calculating. Studying us."

"Learning more about her enemy?" Starfire guessed.

"Or maybe…learning more about _herself._" Cyborg said, his chest rattling slightly as he moved. "After all, the five of us did help create the girl."

"It's probably more than that." BeastBoy said, standing back up. "We finished these drones off over ten minutes ago, and Ravens' had enough time to heal all of us, or at least try. She never tried to help them, never interfered, and didn't send for back-up. And, like Robin said, she could've flattened us at any time. So what gives?"

"Maybe she's curious." Robin said. "I mean she's only about ten hours old, if you think about it. She might have the same fascination about us that a toddler might have with their own reflection."

"Or a bored teenager with an ant hill and a magnifying glass." Raven added spitefully.

"I am in agreement with Raven." Starfire said, observing the unmoved lily-haired girl. "I believe human warlords refer to this as 'saber rattling'. She displayed a portion of her power, and witnessed a portion of our own. In a way, since Raven has now repaired us, we are back at the first square."

"I think you mean 'square one'." Cyborg said, flexing his large bicep. "But you're right. Aside from the fact that we're beat, injured, and out-gunned, we do seem to be back at the beginning."

"So how do we proceed?" Starfire asked, both to herself and her friends.

Before Raven could answer, BeastBoy did something that she swore she would clobber him for later.

"Hey! Yeah, you, the platinum-blonde with the bad breath!" BeastBoy yelled, the hap-hazard kiss still fresh in his memory.

"BeastBoy…!" Robin hissed sharply, giving him the 'cut-it-out' gesture.

"Don't you want to fight us yourself?" BeastBoy continued to shout, "Or are you just a…"

**POP!**

_Cluck-Cluck! Ba-_CAW!

Raven and Cyborg did their best to resist the urge to Char-Broil the green chicken that now danced before them, taunting their new-born super-nemesis. BeastBoy made a terrible racket, his morph implying just how brave he thought Requiem really was.

Or, at least, how brave he _wanted_ Requiem to be.

"Dumb, dumb, _dumb_…" Robin said to himself, covering his eyes with his hand in exasperation.

"If I _ever_ meet the person who taught this kid to talk…" Cyborg snarled.

Requiem watched as the off-color poultry continued to dance below her. She could have been a security camera, given how sterile and robotic her movements were. She would move her eyes, but not her head or body. Whether she was furious or vaguely entertained by all of this, it was hard to tell. She was as unreadable as a page of blank paper.

Her voice was clear as a bell, much to BeastBoy's chagrin.

"How boring."

BB the chicken stopped. He turned his small head upwards, cocking it to one side as if confused.

"What did she say?" Raven asked, a slight twitch to her voice.

BeastBoy quickly morphed back into his original form, his expression all the more vivid now that his face was human again. He looked up at Requiem, squaring off with her.

"I think she said 'How boring.'" Starfire clarified. "Perhaps she does not perceive us to be a challenge."

"On the contrary, Starfire," Requiem said, her body slowly returning to the icy plain. "I do believe the four of you would prove to be quite entertaining."

Her feet slowly clicked as she touched down. "I wasn't referring to all of you."

BB frowned slightly, showing his teeth. "You think I'm a push-over, huh?"

Requiem walked forward slowly, as if she were approaching a gravestone. She was easily a foot taller than BeastBoy, and her shadow easily covering BB's face.

The other titans were ten feet away, and each step Requiem took raised their collective anxiety significantly. Robin and Raven had the sudden urge to intervene, but found they were unable to move their legs. Cyborg caught on a second later, and so did Star: it was as if they were rooted in place.

"I…can't…walk…" Raven said through partially closed lips.

"You'll find that I've immobilized your bodies while I have a word with your tropically-colored friend here. Try not to move too much; we don't want you to hurt yourselves with the strain." Requiem said softly.

Raven felt as though her body were dipped in concrete. Even the slightest movement, from batting an eye-lash to curling the tip of her finger, took tremendous effort. A tiny bit of pressure could be felt at the back of her head, and it intensified with every attempt to move. The pressure became overwhelming, and it slowly translated to pain.

'_BeastBoy is on his own,' _Raven thought with dread, _'and his track record is not good with these types of situations…'_

BeastBoy stood at the ready, his eyes darting back and forth between Requiem and his team-mates. He positioned himself between Requiem and the immobile Raven. The white-haired witch was five feet away, practically on top of him.

But then Requiem stopped, and did something most surprising. She gave a very small, almost impish smile; the kind of smile a child receives from an adult after the child has done or said something outrageous, eliciting a kind of bemusement from the adult. Not one of malice, but one of patronizing admiration.

It was way too eerie.

"Why are you here, BeastBoy?" Requiem asked, as sweet as sugar.

BB's face faltered for a second. "What?"

Requiem's smile grew. "I asked you why you were here."

"I heard ya, but the question is dumb." BeastBoy said, his jaw tight. "You and I both know why I'm here."

"Yes, both of us can recall the series of events that lead to your appearance in this exact spot." Requiem continued, still calm, her voice still strangely sweet. "But that's not really what I'm asking, is it?"

Since it was clear that Requiem was only interested in talking, and not attacking, (for the moment) BeastBoy lowered his defenses, but only slightly. The girls' proximity had every hair on his neck attempting to pull free of his flesh.

"You're asking why I'm with the titans, right?" BeastBoy asked, his face tight. "Why I fight evil and all that other stuff."

Requiem, surprisingly, shook her head. "I know why you're a Titan. And I know why you fight. It's written all over your brain-waves and genetic code, as blatantly obvious as a signal flare."

"Then why ask the question if you already know?" BeastBoy said angrily.

"I ask it, because you _won't_ ask it." Requiem stated.

BeastBoy's ears drooped in confusion. "Huh?"

"I don't think you've ever once asked yourself why it is you fight alongside these four." Requiem said, just above a whisper. "Oh, you 'fight the good fight' and all that other clichéd B.S. but even I can't decipher the true meaning behind your loyalty to this team."

Cyborg couldn't actually show his feelings of anger, but he could certainly think them. _'She's definitely SLADES' spawn.' _

'_And then some.' _Raven thought, catching Cyborgs mental insult.

A sly smile crept across BeastBoy's face, nearly touching the base of both his ears. "So what is this, really? Are you trying to get me to question my loyalty to my friends? Maybe switch sides? Hmm? Because my skill would be much more 'appreciated' if I pulled a Benedict Arnold?"

Robin managed a surprised grunt. _'Wow. BB's quicker than she gave him credit for.'_

'_Yeah, two thousand Saturday mornings crammed with super-hero cartoons; who knew it would pay off?' _Raven responded.

Upon the raising of Requiems' eye-brow, however, Raven decided to hold back her analysis for just a moment.

"What makes you think I have any interest in you siding with my master and I?" Requiem asked, her voice genuinely confused.

BeastBoy's theory toppled slightly, but he pressed on. "Oh come on, it's a classic! You keep my friends from moving, have a little side talk with me, try to convince me to join the winning team, tempt me with power and respect…I've seen this kinda thing hundreds of times."

'_On T.V.' _his brain reminded him.

"My, we _do_ have an inflated ego, don't we?" Requiem said, a slight chuckle in her throat. "Tell me, BeastBoy: what part of you can you see in me?"

'_Again with the head Games.' _BB thought. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"As master SLADE informed you, I am a composite: I am the end result of nearly two years of genetic manipulation and gene-splicing. Every original titan, as well as Terra and Jinx, contributed something to my creation, however unwillingly." Requiem said slowly, rocking from side to side, back and forth.

"Yeah? What's your point?" BeastBoy asked sharply.

"I'm just curious as to whether or not you can detect any features, similar to your own, within me." Requiem said sweetly.

'_This is beginning to trouble me. What is Requiem attempting to do?' _Starfire thought, still unable to lift her arms or readjust her outfit.

BeastBoy knew he was walking into something, but he wasn't sure what. His eyes did a slow, progressive scan of the girls' body, careful not to let his stare linger any more than was absolutely necessary, ending at her face. All told, he could see everything perfectly.

But he saw nothing of himself.

"I…can't see anything."

"Do you now why that is?" Requiem asked flatly.

BeastBoy didn't answer.

"It's because only zero point zero-zero one percent of my DNA was originally yours." Requiem answered.

To say that BeastBoy is a clueless teen would be an unfair statement: most of the time, he just leaps before he looks. But in this instance, a two foot question-mark dangling comically above his head would have aptly displayed just how little he understood the ten-hour-old child before him.

'_Was she going somewhere with all that?' _Robin asked himself, his leg still suspended in mid stride.

"After all," Requiem continued, "_Impure_ blood just wouldn't mesh with SLADES' ultimate weapon, now would it?"

_CREEK…_

Neither Requiem nor the Titans could see it, but BeastBoy could certainly hear the sound of his nerves being stepped upon. It was jarringly similar to the sound of his teeth grinding together behind his lips.

'_Careful, B…'_ Cyborg warned, even though BeastBoy couldn't hear. _'Don't take that bait, man…'_

"The illness that you contracted in Africa-what was it called? _Sakutia?_ It infected every part of your body…changed you…fundamentally altered who you were." Requiem said, her feet carrying her in a small circle around BeastBoys still poised form. "If it weren't for your parents, you might have perished. But instead, you were spared: the death of a human being was denied to you."

She stopped at this, her back to BeastBoys', separated by a foot of cold space. She wouldn't face him, but she still addressed him.

"You survived. But you're not human. Not any more."

BeastBoy restrained himself as best he could. "Oh? And what am I then?"

Requiem snickered in a very prepubescent manner. "A disease."

**SPRING!**

_**SLAM!**_

Anticipating BeastBoys transformation and attack, Requiem nimbly jumped out of the way, just as a large green bear-paw crushed the ice that had once been beneath her feet. She back-flipped through the air, clearing the bears' eight-foot height with ease.

The other Titans, as Requiem had insured, didn't move an inch.

"Swing and a miss." Requiem taunted, landing without a sound behind the large animal.

"I don't miss _twice_." BeastBoy the human warned, his voice low.

"Why BeastBoy, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were angered by my words," Requiem purred with Jinx's voice, "However true they may be."

BeastBoy's only response was to jump as high as he could into the air, and fall as a snarling Saber-Tooth Tiger upon his ivory-haired prey.

Requiem did a side step a microsecond before BB's fangs bit into the ice, her smile ever present. "Oh, so _close_…"

'_BeastBoy, don't loose control.' _Robin vainly attempted to warn him in his head. _'She WANTS you to get ticked off.' _

The green predator yanked his teeth from their cold imprisonment, and BeastBoy reappeared as the gangly teen he was.

"I guess I was right," BeastBoy said, managing a small grin, "You _are_ chicken."

"The how about proving it?" Requiem said, clasping her hands behind her back. "Let's see how powerful a freak-of-nature can be against a stationary target."

For a moment, even though her head was at an odd angle and her eyes could barely move, Raven could have sworn that, just before BeastBoy transformed, his eyes lit up. This wasn't uncommon, since his eyes always shown white when he was about to morph. But it disturbed Raven all the same.

BeastBoy's eyes had never been that…_bitter_.

From fifty feet away, BeastBoy assumed the form of a large Triceratops, the biggest horned animal he could think of. He was now a good six feet taller than his opponent and about as many tons heavier. His large clawed feet pawed at the ice just before he reared up on his hind legs, and barreled towards the diminutive girl.

Raven was shocked to see that Requiem stood her ground, as promised.

BeastBoy was even more shocked by their collision.

**BAM-_SHWOOP!_**

The law of mass multiplied by velocity had nothing on this girl. As large as BB was, his morph may as well have hit a twenty-foot anvil. His body acted as a massive green accordion, crumpling slightly as the rest of his weight caught up with him. After a few seconds of hang-time, BeastBoy slowly rolled to the side, his body shrinking as he fell.

"As expected," Requiem said, apparently unaffected by the hit, "a rudimentary attack from an impure creature."

Much to his team-mates relief, BeastBoy could still stand, his hands cold and his forehead throbbing. He could barely assert himself upon the jagged, slippery ice, and fell once or twice, but he still managed to stand.

"…and yet he rises." Requiem noticed. "Very admirable, half-breed."

"I'm not…listening to you!" BeastBoy spat through painful gasps. "I…don't…don't care what you say! I… (COUGH) don't believe you!"

"That is all very well and good, BeastBoy, but in the end, it doesn't really matter whether you believe me or not." Requiem stated, enjoying the pained expression upon his green face.

"Why? Because you think that what you're saying can't be disputed?" BeastBoy said, clutching at his chest.

Requiem literally pranced away, her mouth still curved in an elfin smile. "You can challenge it all you like. After all…it isn't even my opinion; not originally."

_That _stopped BeastBoy cold.

'_Whatever Requiem is planning is meant for us. But why do this to BeastBoy?' _Starfire thought.

BeastBoy's eyes became slightly larger. "Oh? Then whose is it?"

Requiem had been waiting for that question; Raven could tell by how happy she had suddenly become. It made her nervous, especially since Requiem continued to walk closer and closer to where the titans stood.

"Why don't you ask your 'friends'?" Requiem asked in a curious tone. "I'm sure they will be able to tell you more than I can."

Raven felt her chest tighten. It was as if someone had reached within her body and wrapped their fingers around her lungs, grasping them firmly. At the same time, she felt her arms and legs begin to move, even though she was not commanding the action with any part of her consciousness. Her arms folded under her chest, her legs straightened, and her balance was corrected.

In her peripheral vision, (since control over her eyes was no longer possible)

Raven could see that the other three Titans were also being forced into various positions of artificial ease. Robin stood tall with his arms crossed, Cyborg placed his fists on his hips, and Starfire clasped her own hands behind her back. They all stood as if they were waiting in line at the grocery store: placid, calm, non-threatening.

All were staring at a very confused BeastBoy.

"Guys? What's going on?" BB asked with a shaky breath.

No response. Raven found she still couldn't move her lips.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Still nothing. Requiem stood at a short distance, not moving or speaking.

"Guys! Talk to me! What the heck is going on?" BeastBoy almost yelled, his anxiety peaking.

"Oh, just shut-_up!_" Raven belted, her voice crisp and sharp.

BeastBoy looked stunned.

Raven was appalled.

'_I didn't mean to say that. Why did I say that?' _Raven asked hurriedly in her mind, a sense of fear inching its way up her spine. _'I didn't make my mouth move…so why did I **SAY** that?'_

"Yes, please, just for a moment, can you try to stop _talking_?" Starfire said loudly, the normally lyrical tone of her voice lost in a harsh shout.

BeastBoy nearly fell over backwards from what he was hearing, his face a watered-down jade. "W-w-w-what? What do you mean?"

"Boy, you _are_ an idiot, aren't you?" Robin said, his mouth turned upwards in a cruel smile. "Raven and Starfire just asked you to shut your _yap_; as if you would listen."

"As usual. Like talking to a tree-stump." Cyborg scoffed in agreement, sneering.

'_What is going **on**?' _Raven asked, dumbfounded by what she and everyone else had just said. _'Why did they say all those things? Why did _**I **_say that…?' _

"Robin, I…I don't get it." BeastBoy said nervously. "Why're you tearing me down here?"

Raven could still see Requiem off to the side, standing in a relaxed fashion. She seemed to be off in her own little world, not looking at the titans or BeastBoy directly. She almost seemed bored.

BeastBoy jutted his face towards Requiem. "What did you do to them? Answer me!"

Requiem glanced back at BeastBoy, her face docile. "Hmmm? Whatever do you mean, BeastBoy?"

"You stopped them from moving, so you could easily force them to move!" BeastBoy said angrily, still off-set by what his teammates had just told him. "Is that what you're doing now?"

Requiem flicked something invisible from her finger, her attention still diverted. "Now what makes you think I would do that?"

"You've manipulated everything else. Now he thinks you're manipulating us." Raven said, her mouth and vocal cords operating without her say-so.

BeastBoy looked edgy again after hearing Raven speak so matter-of-factly. Raven felt panicky as she slowly felt the puzzle pieces fall into place.

'_She's shutting off all my other personalities…she's only letting Malice and Scorn use my body…' _Raven thought quickly, attempting once more to regain control.

"He always was a bit slow." Robin added before throwing up his hands. "Oh, who am I kidding, he was slower than any snail he could mimic."

BeastBoy spun back around to his friends. "How do I know Requiem isn't just controlling you?"

Requiem fielded that one. "Oh, it's quiet easy, actually. In order for me to completely control another living being, I have to be in a split state of mind. In effect, I would be comatose and unable to defend myself."

"Says you! That doesn't mean you didn't do something to them!" BeastBoy said with more verve than he actually possessed at that moment, looking at his friends. "Right?"

The titans didn't respond, their smiles still in place, regardless of how much Raven was sure they were struggling against them.

"You've got this all wrong, BeastBoy." Requiem said, strolling easily up Robin from the side. "It's not anything I'm forcing on them."

Her smile returned with a gleeful satisfaction "It's what I've taken away."

BeastBoy let that sink in for a moment. "Taken…away?"

"Our inhibitions, to be precise," Starfire said sweetly, tilting her head in an almost naïve manner. "Our minds are free of the normal clutter that prevents us from being totally candid with each other. Now we are able to express ourselves without hindrance."

"And it's about time!" Cyborg bellowed, stretching his arms upwards as if he was rising from a long nap, pointing one finger at his temple. "Do you have any idea how long I've been cooped up in here? It's a freakin' crime, I tell ya. Never allowed to talk or express myself, what a pain in butt!"

Raven would have hyperventilated if she was actually in control of her breathing at the moment. Her mind seemed locked in a powerful vise, unable to communicate any of her commands to her bodily functions. She couldn't run, conjure, speak, or even wiggle her big toe, no matter how hard she tried. She felt as though a wall were separating one side of her mind from the other; her uninhibited, angry self seemed unchained, where as her logical, public self was locked away. Her body was a puppet, totally at the mercy of the powerful adolescent before her.

BeastBoy seemed to be in the same situation. He was at the mercy of those who could do him the greatest harm: his friends.

"I'm pretty good at this whole 'conceal your feelings' thing," Robin said in an exasperated tone, "but _hiding_ all the times I wanted to call you on your bull? Curse you out for your incompetence? Smack you over the head every time you botched a mission for us?"

He gave a low whistle of amazement. "_That_ has taken some real effort."

To Ravens' silent horror, BeastBoy seemed to wince with embarrassment and shame. "Rob, I…I'm sorry man. Y-y-you know that I never meant to do that stuff, right?"

Starfire jumped in. "Oh, of course not. Just as you never meant to strike me with a balloon filled with oil? Or how you never meant to force the responsibility of caring for Silky on me? And I'm sure you knew exactly what you were doing all those times you nearly crushed me with your over-sized morphs, right?"

'_This is wrong!' _Raven thought frantically. _'Don't listen to us, BeastBoy! This isn't what we are! This isn't how we feel!' _

"Star, I…I thought you liked Silky..." BeastBoy said, visibly shrinking in posture. "And those times were…accidents, I swear…"

"Accidents?" Raven asked against her will. "You've nearly flattened me on ten different occasions! For no good reason! If you were about to _kill_ me, you'd think you could at least do something constructive."

"Constructive? HA!" Cyborg guffawed, his smile bright and serpentine. "He actually attacked us when he got sprayed by that chemical stuff! I'm still apologizing to the people of Jump City after he scrambled every part of my brain with his stupid mega-monkey whatever it was! And when he's actually trying to do something right, he's _still_ a screw-up! He couldn't even handle SLADE one-on-one as a tiger, a bear, or even a _gorilla _for cryin' out loud!"

BeastBoy looked stricken. "But…he was too fast. And I…couldn't let him hurt Terra…"

"Oh excuses, excuses." Robin interjected, placing one foot upon a fallen Atlas soldier, leaning on his knee as he looked at BB. "Tell me, BeastBoy: what are you to us, hmm? The comic relief? The resident one-liner?"

BeastBoy felt abashed by the question, partly because of how it was asked, and partly because…he just didn't have an answer.

"You couldn't be the funny guy on the team, because the funny guy would actually have to be _funny, _right?" Robin asked snidely. "So what does that make you?"

'_He doesn't mean that, BeastBoy! Shut it out!' _Rave yelled to anyone who could hear.

"Not the smart one," Cyborg said, folding his arms with a conceited grin. "I've seen chimpanzee's with a better grasp of strategy and science. Considering he can actually become an ape, that's saying something."

'_He might think that sometimes, but not always!' _Raven continued futilely. _'He's you best friend! You might frustrate him, but he doesn't feel that way all the time! Can't you see that?' _

"Well he is certainly not the strong silent type." Starfire added, looking at Cyborg for a split second. "Half the time he is overcome by the weakest of foes, and getting him to remain silent would take an act of Zaul."

'_Star admires you! She's told me herself! Requiem is making us say these things out of context, BeastBoy! Don't fall for it, **please**!' _Raven pleaded, something she almost never did.

"He does seem to have one talent:" Raven said, every cell of her body struggling against the force that compelled it.

"Do tell." Robin asked, BeastBoy's fractured face tilting her way.

"Getting in the way." Raven finished.

The approval for Raven's statement was as evident as it was cutting.

"Bingo. That's BB."

"I agree."

"Couldn't have put it better."

Raven felt like a prisoner within her own body. No matter how she struggled, she couldn't contact any other part of her personality, nor hear any other thoughts from her other immobile companions. She was cut off, yet remained witness to everything her body was forced to communicate. It was almost debilitating.

The look on BeastBoy's face would have thawed the coldest heart.

"What're you looking at?" Raven asked snidely, her face twisted with involuntary annoyance. "Did you think I was going to hide this stuff from you forever?"

BeastBoy tried to push his words out. Raven could feel the effort he exerted.

"Two days ago…on the ice." BeastBoy said shakily. "You told me a lot about yourself. You told me…a lot about me."

"So?" Raven said, her hands on her hips again.

BeastBoy's eyes seemed to be reading something only he could see, as if recalling a piece of verse in a diary or newspaper. "You meant it, right? You meant what you said about my purpose here, right?"

'_Don't ask me that now! I can't tell you what I should!' _Raven said, beating the inside of her head with her words.

"I told you what I needed to." Raven said, despite how much her mind shrieked to the contrary. "It was the only way to keep you from having some kind of breakdown. I didn't want to have to baby-sit you like I've had to do so many other times."

'_That's not TRUE! I would never do that! I'm not that kind of person!' _Raven clawed away with the non-existent fingernails of her inner-voice.

"It would not have surprise me if he had." Starfire said from behind her. "Any time the littlest bit of danger shows up, he panics and looses his ability to fight; if you could really call that _ability_."

"But let's be fair." Robin said, his hands raised as if he were being held up by a mugger. "BeastBoy is good at some things, right guys?"

"Oh, sure," Cyborg said, his fingers scratching his chin, "Like, uh…messin' around!"

"Yes! And causing collateral damage!" Starfire said, clasping her small fingers together. "At least twenty-three million of your American dollars, according to the Jump City treasurer."

"Or how about getting rescued?" Robin asked with fake approbation. "That happens to him nearly every day."

"Nearly burning down the kitchen every morning certainly counts." Cyborg said, furthering the list.

"Annoying us with obnoxious music." Starfire said happily. "And his disgusting tofu creations."

"Slowing us down during missions." Robin mused. "I can't think of how many times we've had to stop and regroup after a bone-head move by ol' BB here."

Raven wished for a knife to cut out her own tongue after what she said next. "But you know what he's _really_ good at?"

"No, what?" Robin asked earnestly.

BeastBoy's tortured face looked back at Raven, his eyes wide, his hide bare. Raven wished more than anything that she could close her eyes at that moment, or, at the very least, look away from BB's.

'_Don't look at me while I lie to you…don't look at me…!' _Raven cried in silent protest.

"Deluding himself," Raven said slowly, "With the belief that we actually _care_ about him."

Raven had spent the majority of her life as a quiet, concealed person. It was, in part, a way of controlling her powers, given how they reacted to extreme emotional states.

But it was also because she wasn't accustomed to showing these emotions…because she never experienced the proper situation for said emotions to be shown.

This would have been one of those moments. The cry that she would have elicited would have shattered the icy walls of the chamber and split the ground beneath her feet.

For Raven, her cry was painful and lasting.

For BeastBoy, it was as silent as the tears that slid down his battered cheeks.

"What a fool." Robin said with soft distain.

"Idiot."

"Freak."

"Klutz."

"Coward."

"Weakling."

"Sloth."

"_Monster_."

The words of her friends seem to blend together, indiscernible from each other. BeastBoy looked up, but could only see the silhouettes of his friends before a garishly bright light, distorting their features, giving them a ghostly appearance.

Raven could barely register the sounds of their voices, her eyes fixated upon the slow, upward gesture of BeastBoys' hand towards her. For that instant, everything was blocked out: the cold, the ice, the destruction, Requiem…

…everything except BeastBoy's hand upon her own.

"You…liedYou _lied _to me..." BeastBoy said in a crackly, astonished voice.

Raven felt the final gunshot to her chest as she saw herself pull free of BeastBoys' grasp…

"And you _disgust_ me." She hissed.

…only to see her hand slap BeastBoy savagely across the face.

_CRACK!_

"You always hurt the ones you…well, you know the rest, right Raven?" Requiem whispered.

Raven didn't hear her. She couldn't hear anything, really. There was no sound, other than the sound of the slap as it echoed throughout the primarily silent ice-chamber. It dissipated slowly over the jagged ground and cold air, each echo a piercing reminder of what the most insipid side of her personality had just done.

'_No…no no no NO!' _Raven thought softly, her mind aghast. _'What…what have I done?'_

Her eyes couldn't focus, but then, she might have preferred it that way. The growing red mark upon BeastBoy's cheek shone deep and vibrant. The half closed, tear filled eyes of the teen were now wide open, his pupils dilated and his mouth ajar. The slap itself had carried very little physical power; BeastBoy had suffered worse at the hand of Raven.

But the implications he drew from the strike…the words that had preceded it…

'_How could I do that? Why…why would any part of me ever WANT this…?' _Raven asked herself, her subconscious having been brought to its knees.

'_Oh please, you've thought about doing that for years, Raven.' _Requiem communicated telepathically, her voice a cruel slice of wind through her mind; cold, direct, quick.

'_That isn't true!' _Raven shot back, her mind riding on the psychic wave received from Requiem.

'_Oh no? If it weren't true_, _than nothing of the sort would have escaped your lips, and your hand would have stayed at your side.' _Requiem retorted, still standing casually at the edge of the group. _'I didn't force any of this from you. It was already there to begin with.'_

'_It was taken out of perspective! I don't care how often I've thought about doing something like this: I would never do that to BeastBoy in my right frame of mind!' _Raven practically yelled, loud enough that her friends probably heard her thoughts.

'_Don't you mean your subdued, totally a-typical frame of mind?' _

Raven felt her mind stumble. _'No! I don't know what you're talking about.' _

Requiem's actual mouth smiled as she began to walk back to the front of the group. _'Your whole life you've been able to read other people as if they were open books. But when the situation is reversed, you're not the best at handling your own baggage, are you?' _

Raven would have clawed the girls eyes out and then some were she not fixed in one place. _'You know nothing about me! I'm not going to entertain this poison that you keep pouring into my ear.' _

'_What I know is that on exactly seven-hundred and fifty-three separate occasions, you've contemplated the various methods by which you could eradicate this little green elf from the face of the Earth.' _Requiem said, her mind-speak as sharp as a razor. _'And that, approximately two years ago, you almost succeeded, didn't you?' _

The images of a ruined Jump City returned to Raven all at once, nearly as vivid as the sight of BeastBoy slowly touching his bruised face on the ground before her. _'You…how DARE you? How dare you insinuate-!'_

'_I don't insinuate, Raven,' _Requiem interrupted harshly, broadcasting for all to hear. _'I **know.** I have every possible memory you have ever had, and every suppressed emotion as well. Sadly, I find it all rather lackluster; the rough, cold, callus Raven is nothing more than a lonely little girl with abandonment issues and an antisocial complex the size of Montana.' _

Requiem walked towards Raven, one hand on her hip in a casual, scornful pose. She walked right up next to the battered young woman, placed one hand on her shoulder, and leaned close, until her lips were mere centimeters from Ravens' right ear.

In her actual voice, Requiem whispered in Ravens' ear.

"When I said 'how boring', I wasn't only referring to BeastBoy." She said, her words lying heavily within Ravens' ear. "I can think of nothing more tedious than to watch you pretend to be some-_one _when you will never be more than some-_thing_."

'_Meaning what?' _Raven asked in a malicious tone.

"BeastBoy will never be more than a half-human monster." Requiem said, her teeth glinting in a smile.

"And _you _will never be more than the bastard child of the devil himself."

The sensation of sharp little teeth thrust within Ravens' neck stopped her thoughts. Although the pain was controlled and slight, the mere notion of this despicable child biting into her flesh nearly caused her stomach to implode.

The trickle of blood down her collar bone and shoulder tickled slightly, and seemed to excite Requiem. She met the small river of blood with her finger and brought the dark material to her lips, languishing in the sensation of the salty liquid upon her tongue.

"Amazing. You even _taste _evil." Requiem said in a slow, almost blissful tone, backing away slowly, sipping in breaths as though her body tingled with physical pleasure.

It was then that the cavern seemed to vibrate slightly, and the ground rumbled with a new presence.

"**Requiem?" **

Raven felt her body give way as soon as said child turned, her legs buckling like tooth-picks in a hurricane. Her knees hit the ice with a hollow sound, followed shortly by the sounds of her friends' collapsing upon the ice somewhere behind her.

"Yes, my lord?" Requiem asked in a cooing voice.

Raven held her right hand-the hand used to strike her friend-upon her punctured neck. She kept pressure and used her other hand to steady herself upon the ice, tilting her throbbing head upwards.

A head, larger than a sedan, began to materialize in mid air above the six figures. It was partially transparent and flickered slightly as the signal began to degrade, but soon the complete hologram appeared.

The bicolor mask put the frosting on the cake of the already miserable situation.

"**I can see you have not completed the task asked of you." **boomed the voice, hollow and cold.

"But, my lord," Requiem began, her voice unsteady for the first time, "I have captured our quarry. They are unable to escape the chamber. I have seen to that personally."

"**Indeed, you have prevented any feasible means of escape. For this, I applaud your ingenuity." **SLADE confirmed, causing Requiem to bow with pride.

"**But, if you will recall, that isn't the command I gave you." **

Raven noticed that Requiem bowed lower, her pride seemingly dashed. "Forgive me, my lord, but, if I may, I thought it might be prudent to-"

"**I gave you a direct order," **the SLADE hologram interrupted, the image flickering as his voice raised, **"to destroy the Teen Titans as soon as you had acquired them."**

If it was possible, the hologram of SLADE seemed to expand and move closer, adding to his menacing façade. Requiem bowed her head still lower, her eyes surprisingly wide and unsure.

"**Unless I'm egregiously mistaken, the Titans and prisoner Zero One have been securely under your control for the last hour and six minutes." **SLADE said in a low, reverberating voice.

Requiem swallowed back the bile climbing her throat. "Yes, my lord."

"**Then _what, _may I ask, is taking so long?" **

Raven was slowly getting to her feet, her innate memory of how to move her body slowly returning to her. She had never been so completely inert while conscious, and the steady movement coupled with her injuries made her muscles scream.

Her outrage, however, was still fresh. "What's the matter, SLADE? Is your new puppet misbehaving?"

Quick as The Flash, Requiem spun her head around and glared with glowing eyes at the dark woman. Before Raven could conjure, she felt the vice like grip of a psychically constructed hand wrap around her throat, closing her wind-pipe. Raven grappled with the invisible appendage, vainly attempting to pull it from her throat, her legs kicking the air as she was swiftly hoisted from the ground.

"When my master speaks, you _listen._" Requiem snarled, her eyes bright with warning.

"**And when a master asks his servant a question, it would serve her well to promptly respond." **SLADE said in a dangerously slow voice.

"Lord SLADE," Requiem said without releasing Raven, "I do remember the orders given. I fully intended to eradicate the titans upon locating them…but…"

Raven felt Requiem falter, her words steadily becoming awkward.

"**But what?" **SLADE demanded.

"Master, I…I do not understand." Requiem blurted.

"**The English language is designated as your primary form of verbal communication. It was part of your programming, as well as forty-seven other languages, both foreign and domestic to this planet." **SLADE stated, his anger growing.

"Yes, sir." Requiem agreed.

"**Lest I am mistaken, the order I gave you _was_ in English." **

"It was, sir."

"**Good. Now, to make sure I am not misinterpreted again, I shall be as direct as possible: Your orders are to recover our frozen prisoner, kill the Teen Titans, and destroy any evidence that might suggest they ever existed. Is that _understood_?"**

It was clear to Raven-the lack of oxygen in her body notwithstanding-that Requiem was still unsure of something. Maybe it was because her grip slackened, or because her eyes flickered with conflicting thoughts, but either way, something was off.

"My lord…"

"**What is it now?" **SLADE asked vehemently, his patience wavering.

Requiem paused, her hair caught by some slight breeze. She seemed to be thinking, planning, calculating, but to what end, Raven could not discern.

What she said next was flabbergasting. "I disagree."

"**WHAT?" **

"_Put her down!_" yelled a hoarse voice.

Instantly, Raven felt the grip release, her lungs filling like vacuums with cold air. She next felt the tips of her boots touch down on the ice, her ankles weak, causing her to collapse again. Her eyes were wide with relief at her new-found oxygen.

"Raven!"

The dark teenager turned around just in time to see Starfire zip across the ice and envelope her with tender arms. They pulled back Ravens' hair and held her aloft, giving her ample opportunity to inhale.

"Are you damaged? Can you hear me?" Starfire asked, all trace of contempt taken from her voice.

"I… (GASP) I think so, Star." Raven said weakly, patting her friends arm. "But who…? Was that…?"

"Raven!"

"Rae, you OK?"

Robin and Cyborg came running, their legs wobbly and their hands upon their heads. Both knelt next to their fallen comrade, eyeing the bleach-blonde woman who stood facing the projection of her master. Neither were apt to give Requiem another shot at her.

'_Was that BeastBoy's voice I heard?' _Raven wondered, rubbing her collar-line. _'Or was it because my brain didn't get enough O2?' _

"Master," Requiem said, interrupting Ravens' train of thought, "I don't agree with this course of action. It seems to be a strategically inconsequential and overly cautious maneuver. I fail to see the importance of this tactic."

If anyone could actually see SLADES face, it would have looked so angry that it might have been confused for constipation. **"You're REFUSING my orders?" **

"I do not defy your will, sir. I only state what is obvious in an attempt to better serve you." Requiem stated with a non-abrasive attitude, spreading her arms wide for a moment. "Look around. The Titans are beaten and your army is fully assembled. Pursuing them any further would be a waste of my energy and time; they pose no threat. I have successfully weakened their defenses and destroyed their morale with the use of psychological warfare, as I am sure you are aware. To destroy them now would prove no more difficult a task than taking a breath. Is such action necessary with my power unchallenged and your authority absolute?"

Raven was hearing all of this, but diverted her attention three ways; she could hear Requiem, sense SLADES' holographic presence…

But her eyes were elsewhere. "BeastBoy?"

He was facing away from her, his eyes upon the ice. Much to Ravens' distress, his hand still clasp the cheek she had struck him upon, his balance managed by his folded legs and free arm. From her off-balance point of view, she could only see part of his face.

It looked…rigid. "BeastBoy…can you hear me?"

She made her voice as soft and non-threatening as possible, but wasn't sure if was getting through. The other titans were silent, doing their best to get Raven on her feet. Starfire stood at the ready, her hand a shimmering green, anticipating the quite likely event of an attack. Cyborg supported Robin, applying pressure to his leg wound that had suddenly reopened.

Requiem continued. "We've _won, _my lord! Your genius and my power will meet no equal. Why should we giants trouble ourselves with the insects that futilely hope to topple us?"

SLADE gave Requiem a look; a long…hard…look. The distortion of the signal made it difficult to discern, but it seemed as though SLADE was considering what his pet science project was telling him. It would have been a first, considering SLADES' track record.

"**You speak wisdom, my dear. Indeed, to simply destroy the Teen Titans now would prove easy enough," **SLADE agreed, his voice subtle and calm, **"and such an inevitable defeat does seem like a miss-use of your talents." **

The Titans and Requiem, in unison, smiled; one with satisfaction, the others with uplifting relief.

"**There is, however, one in-congruency that must be readdressed immediately." **SLADE added in a father-to-daughter voice.

"Yes, my lord?" Requiem asked hopefully.

**_VRRRRRRRR-_TSSSSSEEEEEEEEEW!**

**CRANK-_CRACK_!**

"**You…obey…_me._" **

Requiem and Raven sported the same look on their faces, but for different reasons. Raven looked shocked, but it was only because she had just witnessed something she never thought she would see.

Requiem looked shocked because the sensation pulsing through her body was foreign to her…and it was a powerful one.

"Ah...Ah-_AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!_"

Cyborg visibly cringed at the sound of a voice, so like Jinx's, screaming in anguish. Robin was bug-eyed, and seemed to have stopped breathing for the moment. Starfires' hands shed all signs of energy build-up, her mouth agape.

Raven forgot all about her neck. "Merciful heavens…"

Requiems' right hand seemed to have exploded. In truth, it had not, but it certainly looked as though Requiem had attempted to hold a live grenade in her clenched fist. The fingers, including the thumb, were bent all the way back over the top of her hand. The tips of her fingers were touching the top of her wrist, the bones and joints completely reversed in position. Pieces of cartilage protruded from the ivory flesh of the screaming girls' hand, jagged and shattered.

Requiem looked mortified, her knees giving way and her back arched sharply. Her cries echoed loudly throughout the chamber, her mouth wide and her eyes wider.

When she finally found herself, her voice was a broken mess. "Master! Master, _why_…? _What have you done to me?_ This FEELING, I can't…can't understand what this is…!"

"**What you are experiencing now is called _pain: _a sensation I trust you will never forget and always appreciate from this day forward." **SLADE answered, cool as a cucumber.

"But…how in the heck did her fingers-" Cyborg began.

"**The suit Requiem wears allows me to control her body at the cellular level, and so, I simply commanded the muscles on top of her hand to contract violently, eliciting this reaction." **SLADE interrupted, no remorse escaping his voice. **"It is a sensation I intend to bestow upon all sentient life, on this planet and beyond, as soon as my operation is complete."**

The hologram moved closer to his creation, the static causing Ravens' hair to stand up. SLADES' eye was dilated to a dark point, intense and probing, while his voice dripped with acid on every word.

"**And if you _ever _disobey my orders again, Requiem, I shall decimate your flesh with an agony unprecedented on any possible plane of existence; past, present, or future." **

Requiem, for all her power and insight, suddenly felt incredibly cold. She knelt upon the ragged ground, gazing with misty, disbelieving eyes at the man who had delivered her such a crippling blow, and yet, only ten hours earlier, granted her…life. A child that is indulged and suddenly reprimanded simply does not know how to react to this; after all, how could a parent, who was once so kind to the child, suddenly be so cruel?

"**Are you in need of any further clarification, Requiem?" **SLADE hissed with false complacency.

Requiem hid her eyes, suddenly ashamed. But she answered; she didn't dare stay silent. "N-No, my lord."

"**The Teen Titans have proven, over the last several years, to be a consistent thorn in my side." **SLADE boomed, backing away slightly. **"Hence my need for their destruction _now_; I will give them no further chance to prove how resilient they can be under extreme duress."**

"What are your orders, my lord?" Requiem asked between sighs of pain.

"**Return to base immediately for anatomical reconstruction," **SLADE commanded, assured that his word would be honored, **"but leave your force-field around the area. It is clear that you are still in need of further programming, and so, I will deal with the Titans in a more direct fashion. Are we clear?" **

"Crystal, my master." Requiem answered.

The hologram gave one last look to the Titans, then Requiem. Then the image destabilized, the signal weakening, until it was finally cut off all together. SLADES' face was gone.

With that, Requiem stood back up, faced the Titans, and began to envelope herself in a small aura of energy. Just before she disappeared from sight, she shot a look at Raven, held it for a few seconds…and then vanished.

The look could have set the ice aflame; of that, Raven was sure.

There was an almost physical lift of anxiety from her teammates. "Whew!"

"I do not believe I've held my breath for that long…ever." Starfire noticed, breathing hard.

"Yo, man, you're heavier than you look!" Robin said, Cyborg leaning down on him with a sigh of relief.

"Oops, sorry."

Whilst all this commotion took place, Raven managed to wiggle away from her friends, and stand alone upon the ice. Her neck was still sore and her legs and arms still moved in a fidgety manner; she still hadn't shaken the feeling of her loss of control over her own body.

Her eyes remained on her green friend.

"BeastBoy?"

The boy still sat upon the ice, unmoving.

Raven tried again. "BeastBoy, look…about what I said, I…you know that I wouldn't-"

"Are you alright?"

Raven felt and looked surprised. It wasn't just the fact that BeastBoy had spoken: it was how he had spoken.

He was flat, direct, and emotionless; it was the type of voice Raven was very familiar with.

"I said, 'are you alright?'" BeastBoy asked again, slowly getting to his feet.

"Uh…yes. Yes, I'm OK." Raven said, unsure of what to expect next.

BeastBoy still wouldn't look at her. He stood at his full height, short as he was, and faced in the direction of where Requiem once stood.

Raven reached forward, attempting to touch BeastBoys' arm.

"BeastBoy, why are you-?"

BeastBoy pulled away violently, jerking out of Ravens' reach.

"_Don't…_"

Raven wasn't so easily deterred by his curtness. She reached forward again. "BeastBoy…?"

"I said **DON'T!**"

The voice was sharp and loud. Truth be told, it sounded like a bark more than yell; as if a large guard-dog were warning someone not to get any closer.

It had the desired effect: Raven recoiled quickly, her voice lost in the echo of BeastBoys' command. She still couldn't see his face, still couldn't get a word in edgewise.

The gruffness of BeastBoys' spat jerked the other Titans out of their relieved conversation. "B…?"

"BeastBoy, what is wrong?" Starfire asked, this time genuinely un-patronizing.

Robin, his leg throbbing and his blood staining the ice, stood up-right despite his pain; it was in his nature to do what was right regardless of what was done wrong.

"BeastBoy, listen, what we said…it was…Requiem did something to our brains, blocked out what we actually feel…I mean, you _know_ we could never really think those things about you for _real_…don't you?" Robin attempted.

BeastBoy was as stiff as the ice he stood upon. His fingers had slowly closed into fists, his shoulders were square, and his ears erect. It looked as though he were watching something, but the horizon within the chamber, as large as it was, gave away nothing.

All of that aside, Raven could tell that something was fundamentally…different; different about BeastBoy.

She didn't like it.

"BeastBoy, why are you-?"

"It isn't over." BeastBoy interrupted in an uncharacteristically deep voice.

"Huh?" Robin asked.

"What do you mean, BB? Talk to us, man! Please!" Cyborg yelled, catching the same vibe as Raven.

BeastBoy finally moved, raising his right arm slowly, his pointer-finger out. He gestured ahead, into the dim mist within the cavern, everything else virtually silent around him as he spoke.

"They are coming."

Raven felt her lips twitch downwards in a concerned frown: she didn't like the sound of that.

Neither did Robin. "What did he say?"

"He said 'They are coming'." Starfire said gravely, levitating into the air, looking in the same direction as BB. Her eyes were wide and her face long, sensing something terribly wrong with the situation.

"Cyborg, can you do a scan? Figure out what BeastBoy is talking about?" Robin asked.

Cyborg stepped forward until he was right beside BeastBoy, his arm now resting at his side. Cyborg tapped a few commands into his left temple, his electronic eye buzzing as it attempted to locate whatever it was that caught BB's attention.

It was a superfluous gesture in the end, because a few second s later, everyone saw what BeastBoy was talking about.

They could faintly hear it, too.

_**TOOMtoom-TOOMtoom-TOOMtoom-TOOMtoom…**_

Robin was the first to find his voice; barely. "No way…"

Out of the mist, a little over a mile away, a line of darkness was approaching. It stretched the width of the chamber, walking out of the fog that continued to hang along the chamber floor.

"It is…endless." Starfire admitted, her voice strangely calm.

"I suppose we should be flattered." Cyborg said calmly. "But SLADE did say it would be direct."

A wall of Atlas soldiers, each one marching in perfect unison, was approaching the Titans. Their footsteps reverberated around the entire cavity of the underground complex, dull and thunderous, as if the soldiers themselves comprised a greater, swelling storm.

"How many?" Robin asked, unsure if he wanted an answer.

"Ten thousand hostiles, all packing. Probably two dozen assault vehicles, maybe a dozen tanks." Cyborg said as peacefully as he could. "Unfortunately, the range of my scan is inhibited by all the magnetic interference; there may be a lot more of those things out there."

"When?" Robin asked, rubbing his eyes.

"At their current pace?" Cyborg asked, estimating. "Eight minutes. Twelve tops."

Starfire rejoined her friends on the ground, her birds-eye-view suddenly undesirable. "I can see many more Atlas troops following in behind this line."

Robin sat down upon the Atlas soldier he had defeated nearly two hours earlier. He placed his elbows upon his knees, and held his head in his hands. He stared at the ice, deep in thought, all the while listening to the steadily louder approach of those thousands of feet.

_**TOOMtoom-TOOMtoom-TOOMtoom-TOOMtoom…**_

"Well, guys," Robin spoke, finally looking up, "any suggestions?"

Everyone but BeastBoy remained silent. When he answered, he still refused to turn, and his voice was still deep and unusual.

"I will keep my promise."

Raven walked forward again, her mind set on figuring out what was going on with BeastBoy. Even with everything that had happened, she needed to reconnect with the person she had just harmed so thoroughly, even if it had been unintentional.

She approached BeastBoy from behind, determined to get an answer this time.

"BeastBoy, I want you to look at me." Raven said.

He didn't.

"BeastBoy, don't do this! Don't shut me out! It won't help anything!" Raven continued, louder this time.

Still nothing.

"Yell at me! Curse me out! Tell me I'm a horrible person, just…don't ignore me, please!" Raven yelled full out this time.

When he didn't answer, Raven reached for his shoulder for the third time, doing whatever it took to get BeastBoy to look at her. But before she could reach him, her wrist was snagged.

Raven found herself in BeastBoys' grip, his fingers laced tightly around her forearm. He still hadn't turned, but he wasn't hurting Raven, merely stopping her.

"BeastBoy?"

The small green teen turned his head, finally, to look at Raven. And although Raven met his face with an expression of hope, it was quickly lost when he turned to her.

His hair was the same. His skin was the same color. The red mark upon his face was still there, glaring up at Raven. It was his eyes, however, that stopped her cold. The last time she had seen these eyes, accented by wickedly arched eye-brows and a creased brow…

…they had been behind the bars of a cage.

"_No…_" Raven whispered, terror rising in her breast.

The teens' bright-white eyes, devoid of any pupils, seemed to smile at the same time as his lips. His deepened voice carried every bit as much hunger and malice as those blank, ivory pools in his head.

"_BeastBoy isn't here right now._"


	21. Clash

I owe a great many of you an apology. The events of the last year have made my writing--as well as the process of writing--awkward, difficult, and tiresome. A great deal of drama has been infecting my life, and it has only recently eased off. I finally recovered my stolen PC, and managed to recover at least 75 percent of the corrupt data on it. I should be able to submit my chapters far more often now than I have been, and since I've had a few months to settle into my new apartment, that should make my writing all the smoother. Again, I apologize for the extensive leave; I will not ignore my writng any longer.

This is not the final chapter, though we are approaching the last three. I thank you for your continued patience, and hope you feel that the wait has been worth it. There will be no intoduction at the beginning of the next chapter, besides the usual disclaimer. As always, I hope you enjoy the reading, and review as much as possible. WARNING: Violence layeth within. You have been warned.

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, Disney, or any other brand name, including their products.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

**Chap 21: Clash**

[Twenty Minutes Earlier...

"_**And you disgust me."**_

_**CRACK!**_

He had seen it. He had heard it. He had felt every physical sensation and every ounce of confusion, every drop of betrayal.

But he still couldn't believe it, and his chains held firm.

"How…_could _she?" whispered Garfield's high-pitched voice.

"_Well, what did you expect?_" came a distant, leering growl.

Whenever Garfield closed his 'eyes', he could see and feel everything that was going on in the physical world. Although he couldn't control any of his hosts' actions, he was able to witness every painful second of what BeastBoy was going through.

But he wasn't the only one. "_I knew this would happen. I wasn't sure when, but I knew…_"

The ever-present storm crackled above Garfield's head, the thunder and lightening a constant reminder of the desolation beyond his confinements. Although there was only one window in his 'cage', the flashes of light were still startling, however frequently they occurred. The thunder was distant, but it was still powerful enough to rattle the chains that hung heavily upon Garfield's small frame.

Garfield looked in the general direction of the Beasts' section of the cage. His view was obscured by the wall, of course, but, like any other part of BeastBoys' consciousness, he could still sense…_him_.

"You didn't know a thing." Garfield insisted.

"_Oh, wake up!_" The Beast snapped, his voice carrying slightly over the desolate land outside his cage. "_Raven would have found a way to do this eventually, and you know it._"

"She isn't like that," Garfield said back weakly, "no matter how angry we make her, she would never do this…"

"_WE?_" the Beast interrupted, rocking the cage back and forth with his indignation. "_What's this 'WE', kid? Don't rope me in with all that namby-pamby, wishy-washy innocence nonsense that you use to get attention. She doesn't see enough of _my_ influence to hate BeastBoy because of it._"

"Well it isn't because of what _I _give to BeastBoy." Garfield argued. "I give him his laughter, his humor, his morality, his ability to reason…"

"_You give him an excuse to act cowardly and hide behind false integrity._" The Beast hissed, knowing he was right. "_I may be savage, but I'm the only one who's honest with BeastBoy about all his hidden desires for respect and power. If it weren't for my brief exploits in the real world, BeastBoy would have been road-kill long ago._"

"You goad, you taunt," Garfield said slowly, shifting his heavy restraints, "you bring BeastBoy nothing but hate."

"_I also bring him the TRUTH about himself,_" the Beast countered viciously, "_as opposed to deceiving him with hope that never existed. Without me, he would fall…and so would you._"

Garfield, despite what he represented as part of BeastBoy's personality, was finding it more and more difficult to remain civil. "Of all the posturing, idiotic, self-serving, megalomaniacal tripe I've ever heard…!"

"_Huh. Figures_." The Beast scoffed. "_It would make sense that you have a well developed vocabulary, since you have an underdeveloped spine._"

"It is imperative that I provide BeastBoy with all the intelligence that I can," Garfield said with a quip of sarcasm, "since everything between your ears rotted away long ago."

"_Why don't you _grow_ a pair, and then maybe green-bean wouldn't be so apt to listen to me as often as he does, huh, brat?_" the Beast suggested snidely, "_What do you think it means when he chooses the personality of a monster over the personality of his human self? How do you rank, exactly, when he would rather destroy all that he has instead of preserving it?_"

The Beast had been picking his teeth with a long femur bone during the entire conversation, raking his thresher-sized talons through his unkempt fur. In fact, he really hadn't looked up from what he was doing in his decrepit cell until the Titans in the physical world had begun to harangue his and Garfield's one commonality: BeastBoy. Both personalities had been remarkably quiet throughout the duration of the verbal assault, taking stock of everything that was happening while remaining silent themselves.

Which is why he found it rather surprising—and particularly annoying—when he heard Garfield begin to laugh.

"_What's so funny, cockroach?_" the Beast asked, leaning toward the wall to hear more clearly. "_You find something entertaining about what I said, or are you laughin' just to cover up how scared you are?_"

What Garfield said next almost made him snap the bone betwixt his fingers. "You really are a fake, aren't you?"

The Beast wasn't sure he had heard correctly, and his eyes narrowed sharply. "_WHAT did you say?_"

He could sense Garfield as he slowly got to his feet, his head still low, but his lips still curved in a small, knowing smile.

"I called you a fake." Garfield reiterated, this time more clearly. "A phony, a fraud, a bogus apparition."

"_You'd better tread softly, shrimp._" The Beast said quietly, as if he was telling Garfield a dark secret. "_Your predecessors knew better than to cross me more than they ought._"

"There you go again!" Garfield said, throwing up his hands as much as he could, despite the weight of his cuffs. "This whole brooding, hunched-over, evil creature thing that you try to pull off; I don't buy it! I haven't bought it since _my_ manifestation appeared after Trigon was defeated, and I never will."

The Beast slammed his fist into the wall, the resulting bang causing Garfield to flinch with fear, falling on his rump.

"_Funny. You still jump as if you're afraid of me._" The Beast said after a minute or so, his smile toothy and growing. "_You talk a good talk…for someone who's full of it._"

Garfield slowed his breathing, trying to regain his composure. No matter how many times he did it, the Beast was still able to scare the daylights out of him by banging on their hallowed out confinement.

"Of course I'm afraid." he managed to say, "But not for the reasons you think."

"_Then you _are_ foolish._" The Beast jeered, stretching his legs upon the masticated bed of bones strewn across the floor. "_Because you have every need to fear me, and every reason not to tick me off._"

Garfield held his arm at his side, staring at the floor. He didn't dare close his eyes again, for fear that he might witness some other horrible event occurring in the outside world. He looked at his wavy blond hair, and how it seemed to have lost its shine, now just hanging upon his head like dead straw, brittle and coarse. His small arms seemed to have withered and wrinkled in a very short time, and his shoulders slumped as if weighed down by something sticky and dense.

He knew that weight well. It was the weight of his memory.

"Do you remember…when Mom and Dad died?" Garfield asked in a scratchy voice.

The Beast seemed to be put off by the question, suddenly biting clean through bone upon which he had been gnawing. His eyes opened in a quizzical fashion, eyeing the left side of his cage. "_Was that directed at me?_"

"No, the other brutish creature in the next cell." Garfield quipped.

The Beast curled his claws as if he were lifting a dumbbell, spitting out the hunk of bone. He was thinking of some cutting remark he could make about the inadequacy of his mother's something-or-other…

Only, he couldn't. He couldn't think of anything, or recall anything for that matter.

Without meaning to, he answered the boy's question. "_No…I don't._"

Garfield shifted into a sitting position, crossing his legs beneath him despite his heavy shackles. He kept his arm at his side, holding it tightly, as if to spot the bleeding of a deep wound upon his flesh. His 'mind' began to wander, accessing old memories without any real destination or particular memory as his goal.

"I didn't think you would," Garfield continued, almost talking to himself, "since you weren't created until after they died."

At first, the Beast thought the boy was going to segue into some immature comment about how the he was the rightful incarnate-presence within BeastBoy's mind.

But something occurred to him. "_I suppose you're implying that this was the point in time which _you_ were created?_"

Garfield didn't answer his question. He just kept his eyes on the floor, deep in thought, his mouth moving with every word that came to it.

"I kept him going…for a little while at least. I gave him the courage to seek out the Doom Patrol. I showed him how to get to Jump City after that."

"_Great. Now he's gonna bore me with daydreams of yester-year._" The Beast said, yawning deeply.

When Garfield spoke again, it was much more…erratically.

"But after a while, things changed…he didn't know what to do with himself…his body was fighting a disease…fighting the cure as well…didn't have anything…anyone to turn to…alone…he was alone…"

"_I think the kid has lost it._" The Beast said with a note of amusement, cocking a bushy brow.

But Garfield continued. "Wanted to change…needed to become something else…anything else…just to escape…to fight his pain…fight himself…"

The Beast stood, his patience with the child's' ramblings wearing thin. "_Are you about done? My ears don't care for this kinda bunk._"

"Find a place to hide…become something else…escape…escape the world he knew…become part of something else…don't let anyone near…block it out…block them all out…!"

"_I'm warning you, kid._" The Beast hissed, "_you're tap-dancing on my last nerve, and you're gonna regret it…_"

"Then BOOM!" Garfield yelled.

The small boys' exclamation happened to coincide with a very loud thunderclap from above, closing the Beast's mouth, widening his eyes and hunching his shoulders unexpectedly. The talons upon his feet had unexpectedly grasped at the metal floor, crushing several skeletons in the process, and his body had squared itself up, as if expecting an attack.

"Why did you do that just now?" Garfield asked, his voice placid again.

The Beast felt unsettled.

He _hated _feeling unsettled. "_What's it to you, brat?_"

Garfield allowed himself a wry smile, biting his bottom lip slightly. "It's OK. I already know the answer."

The Beast felt that familiar boiling sensation, rising from his feet to his gut. "_Are you trying to test me, boy? Do you play with fire so recklessly?_"

Garfield could feel the gaze of his fellow prisoner, despite the layers of metal that separated them. But still he spoke.

"It was instinct."

The Beast experienced his first double-take. He didn't enjoy _that_ sense of confusion either.

"_Come again?_"

"You reacted that way out of instinct." Garfield said, as if he were reading from an encyclopedia. "Everything that contributed to your creation was based on a fundamental need to protect, be it yourself or others, from some kind of harm."

"_I have no need to protect anyone but myself!_" The Beast rebutted, his lungs filling with fire. "_And that includes those walking bags of flesh that BeastBoy hangs with._"

Garfield knew that the Beast knew better. "Your very existence is owed to the fact that BeastBoy instinctively needed to protect something, and it was something that I couldn't help him defend on my own, regardless of how much I wanted to."

"_I agree. You were weak then, and you're weak now._" The Beast huffed. "_I never thought there would come a day when we would agree upon something so completely._"

"I may be weak," Garfield said, his voice still eerily calm, "but at least I'm the original."

_**BANG! BANGBANG!**_

"_Say that to my face, you impudent half-pint!_" the Beast bellowed, gnashing his teeth and battering the walls of his cell. "_Come on, punk! Show me how '_original_' you can be!_"

Despite how much Garfield's cage rattled and rocked, he paid no mind to the continued rants of his hunched adversary. The various obscenities went unanswered as well. Garfield knew it was best to just let the furry fiend yell himself hoarse, rather than try to get a word in edgewise. Like dealing with a child who throws a temper-tantrum, oftentimes it proves more effective to just let them tire out before attempting civil interaction.

"_Say something! What'sa matter, small fry? Cat got your tongue? You too good to slug it out with me, huh? Or do you drop phrases to make yourself sound smart? Is that it? ANSWER ME!_"

Garfield just kept staring. His eyes betrayed nothing of what he felt, and his hands clasped the frayed edge of his shirt, fiddling with the strings and torn fabric. He kept his voice low, his wording direct, so as to appear calm, in spite of how frightened he felt.

"You act tough, angry, evil and bloodthirsty," Garfield began, "But that isn't what you really are. You're only purpose is to provide shelter, an escape for BeastBoy's fear and sorrow. You are BeastBoy's chosen method of dealing with the world when it shuns or humiliates him, a shield against the hate that pierces him deeper than any gunshot. You're no more evil than a shot of adrenalin: fleeting, intoxicating, and ultimately deceptive."

The Beast's final blows, hallow and ringing, eventually subsided. Like the clanging of church bells, the reverberations from every strike continued to shake the structure, but the sound eventually gave way to the thunderous din above.

But the fire wasn't quite breathed out of the Beast. "_SO WHAT? Maybe everything I do is short-lived, and maybe it only makes him more miserable._"

"There's no 'Maybe' about it." Garfield corrected.

"_I may be instinctual, crass, and violent,_" The Beast said curtly, "_But I've never lied to him. I don't cushion the blow because the truth might hurt him. He won't lash back at others because he fears that they will abandon him, so I do it for him!_"

"Without you, BeastBoy would be a better person!" Garfield finally yelled, his fists balled in his shirt.

"_Without me, BeastBoy couldn't SURVIVE!_" The Beast roared back. "_And neither would his 'friends'!_"

…_**SHALL WE TEST THAT THEORY?... **_

It was loud. Not just loud in the sense that it carried far over the desolate plane, but in that it surrounded…_everything. _Every breath of wind, every jagged stone, every corner of the huge prison, was filled with that loud, somewhat plaintive suggestion.

The voice that had made said suggestion was awfully familiar.

Garfield's ears twitched, his forehead wrinkled with curiosity. "It's _you…_isn't it?"

The Beast, having jumped to his full height (or at least the full height allowed by the cage) at the sound of the voice, covered his eyes with annoyance. "_Aw, nuts…_"

It was eerie, bordering on spooky. As soon as that consuming, almost omnipotent voice had spoken, everything had, literally, shut up. The thunder stopped rolling, the lightning flashes ceased, the wind died; even the ground fell still, as if a freight-train had come and gone in the span of a few minutes. The world within BeastBoy's mind was, for the moment, at peace.

This 'peace' didn't sit well with the Beast, or Garfield, for that matter. "Who are you?"

The Beast found it strange that the small-fry had spoken up first, but wasn't about to be upstaged. "_Yea and what's this bunk about a 'theory'?"_

There was no response, at least, not in the sense of verbal communication. Garfield sensed that something, although undefined, was hovering, or perhaps flying, over the top of their cage. It swooped in an out, up and down, much like a plastic bag caught in draft: directionless, wistful, and free.

The Beast's reaction was quite the opposite. The long, wire-like fur upon the back of his neck bristled, rising like the quills of a porcupine. The cold, foreboding feeling of approaching conflict crept into his gut, causing his talons to slowly unsheathe themselves from his furry fingertips. His nose huffed at the air steadily, waiting for any hint of scent, his tall, pointed ears stretched to their full width.

…_**THERE IS NO TRUST…**_

"_Of course there isn't any trust! I don't trust anyone!_" The Beast growled deeply, turning back and forth in his cage, looking for the source of the voice. "_But you knew that already, didn't you?_"

"Will you quit it? It might leave again without filling us in!" Garfield whispered fiercely, looking back towards the cage's ceiling.

"_Whatever._"

"What do you mean by 'Trust'?" Garfield asked the sky, his eyes wide. "What trust is lacking?"

When the voice again answered, it was a just as booming, but the tone was that of a parent talking to a child: patient, calm, almost patronizing.

…_**YOU HAVE NO TRUST…NO TRUST FOR THE OTHER…**_

"The other _what?_" Garfield asked, trying to keep his cool. "Raven? The Titans? What do you mean by 'The Other'?"

The Beast wasn't sure why he was allowing himself to entertain this specter, especially for as long as he had. "_It doesn't matter what it is! Listen, either show yourself, or somehow make yourself known. Otherwise, leave! I've had enough riddles, and you're beginning to tick me off._"

The silence that followed was only momentary. A few seconds after the Beast's demand, both prisoners noticed something…different, about the air around them. It felt stale and hot, almost as if it were about to storm again. But no thunder could be heard, and no rain was falling.

"I don't think you should have said that." Garfield said, his hands and feet sweaty and cold.

"_What are you, my mother?_" The Beast asked, watching the sky.

The increase in the wind was tremendous, and very sudden. It was if a steam-geyser had erupted beneath the cage. The updraft's strength rivaled that of a tornado, swirling and roaring with constant, seemingly bottomless power. It caused Garfield's medium length hair to stand straight up, and the Beast's matted and dirty pelt to ripple and whip. The Beast covered his sensitive ears, drowning out the ripping sound that followed, as well as the screams of the young boy across the way.

"_What did you do, kid? Who did you piss off __**this**__ time?_" The Beast yelled accusingly over the noise.

"Stop this! _Why are you doing this?_" Garfield yelled at the angry gale.

_**RRRRRRRRRR-**_**IP! SHLANG!**

Neither of the two cell mates dared open their eyes, even though the wind had unexpectedly ceased. The ensuing silence felt caustic, and hung heavily upon their flesh. Garfield took steady, hesitant breaths, and the Beast kept his hands upon his ears, the only sound available being his slowly calming heartbeat.

The cool breeze felt good on Garfield's skin.

"Wait a minute…cool breeze?" Garfield said softly. He cautiously parted his fingertips just enough to glance through.

It was gone. The cage, the bars, the ceiling…gone. Garfield now beheld the vast expanse of land that he knew had always surrounded his prison, but had never actually seen for himself. The edges of where the walls of the cage _should _have been looked jagged and gnarled. It was as if the cage had been twisted away like a pop-can being twisted in two, leaving behind only half of what had once been a complete container. Where the other part of the cage had gone, Garfield wasn't sure. He was just thankful that the floor of the prison had not been lifted away as well.

Unfortunately, not _everything _had been swirled away when the cage had. "_What the heck was that?_"

He was bigger than Garfield remembered. Although the Beast's impressive nine and a half foot frame was daunting in its own right, everything just seemed bigger. The juggernaut shoulders and pile-driver arms were as menacing as ever, as were the wickedly curved claws jutting from his massive hands. His scraggly green fur seemed to have been fluffed by the wind, and the long mane of dark hair down his back ruffled like a small cape. The eyes, as hollow as those of the dead, gazed in every direction warily, still unsure of what had just transpired a few minutes earlier.

It was a shadow that Garfield had hoped he would never be caught in again.

"_What the Sam-hill are you looking at?_" The Beast snarled, his eyes finally resting upon the relatively diminutive child.

Garfield gulped back the bile that was building in his throat. The scent of decaying flesh had been released as soon as the cage had been ripped from its foundation, and whatever bones that still remained upon the ground only added to the noxious odor. Garfield did his best to look up and away from the graveyard of his predecessors, lying at the feet of the behemoth.

"I'm looking for the ceiling that used to be over my head." Garfield managed, standing as tall and straight as possible. "And for the wall that kept your face out of mine."

The Beast raised an eye-brow, and crossed his pillar-like arms. "_You're no looker yourself, brat. I could have gone a lifetime without looking at your puckish face again._"

Garfield felt hurt, but angry as well. "At least I'm not some repressed baby who has a cannibal fetish! I've done my best to make sure that BeastBoy has a good life, but you always-!"

"_What's up with him?_" The Beast said, cutting Garfield off with his craggily voice.

Garfield lowered his raised finger, and followed the Beast's gaze. At first, it had appeared as though the Beast were looking at Garfield directly. But now, his gaze seemed fixated upon something closer, more immediate.

The two personality extremes were not alone. "What's _happening _to him?"

BeastBoy sat betwixt the two entities, his legs folded beneath him, his eyes upward. Of course, he couldn't see or interact with either of the two halves of his personality, but they could certainly see and interact with him. The look on his face was one of pain, most definitely because of what had transpired less than ten minutes earlier in the real world. But his eyes held something different; the pupils were dilated and his face was tense, and although he seemed to sit calmly, there was nothing calm about his posture.

It looked like something was scaring the crap out of him. "_I don't know. I don't think I've ever seen him this freaked out._"

"Well how do we find out what's wrong? I can't get to him because of these stupid chains!" Garfield yelled, attempting to lift the cumbersome shackles.

Upon hearing his own statement, Garfield felt a ripple in the air. Not like wind, but more along the lines of a pulse, like a wave of heat or cold. It made his hair stand on end even more than the Beasts' presence.

…_**TOUCH AND SEE…**_

The voice was back, deep and rolling like thunder.

"_What did it say?_" The Beast asked, spitting a hunk of bone from his mouth.

**CRACKLE-**_**BOOOOOOOOOM…**_

Two strands of lightening, each curving from the sky as great white snakes of energy, descended upon the two bewildered individuals. They watched with macabre fascination as the whips of golden-white light streaked from the heavens and crashed to the ground. Garfield tried to cover his ears, but it was to no avail. The sound waves shook his 'flesh' and nearly caused him to pass out, the tremendous energy striking just two feet from where he stood.

When Garfield opened his eyes, he couldn't believe what he saw. The chains, and their connections to the foundation of the cage floor, had vanished. He felt his arms move about freely for the first time in ages, and his body felt lighter than a feather.

"I'm…I'm free…" Garfield whispered, before another feeling of dread began to creep across him. "But that means…"

"_WOW, this feels GREAT!_" The Beast snickered with delight, rubbing his wrists and neck. "_I haven't been lose in so long, I…I almost forgot how good it felt!_"

With that, the Beast leapt into the 'air', shooting nearly fifty feet above Garfield's head. He watched as the Beast slowly fell back, hitting the ground with a satisfying _THUD. _Small sparks skittered across the metal floor where his claws scratched it upon impact.

"_Hey! Voice! I'm not sure why you did it, but you're OK by me, understand? You can keep messing with us all you like!_" The Beast yowled to the sky. "_As a matter of fact, could you do something about small fry over here? He's always been the wet blanket of this trio!_"

Garfield wasn't sure if the Beast wanted a reply, but he certainly got one.

…_**TOUCH AND SEE…TOGETHER…**_

Garfield looked down again at the huddled form of his master. His position hadn't changed the entire time this was taking place, and the look of horror was still glued to his features.

The Beast looked cautiously at Garfield, then back to BeastBoy. "_That voice didn't mean…_"

"I'm afraid so." Garfield said, approaching the small green teenager. "Just…keep your distance, understand?"

"_Kiss my tail._" The Beast snarled, slowly approaching from his side of the boy.

Both entities slowly reached out with their right hand, and placed them upon the shoulder closest to them. When nothing happened upon touching the boy, Garfield took it to mean that they had to close their eyes. The Beast followed suit.

They could see everything now, at the same time. Garfield felt his gut tighten at the sight of Raven, her broken and battered body suspended nearly eight feet above the ice of the chasm floor beneath Antarctica. Her face was twisted with pain, and it was clear that Requiem, standing just a few feet ahead, was doing something to her with her unique abilities. Though her face seemed confused, she was still doing something horrible to Raven.

What Requiem said confused Garfield to the point of a double-take; he clearly had missed out on the majority of whatever conversation was taking place.

"I disagree."

"**WHAT?" **came a booming voice from somewhere behind and above BeastBoy.

While Garfield watched, bemused by this bizarre scene, he also let his guard down. He felt the Beast seize control of BeastBoy's vocal chords, too quickly for Garfield to stop him!

"_Put her down!_" BeastBoy/The Beast yelled, sharp and clear in BB's voice.

A split second later, Raven was released from whatever grip she had been in, and fell like a rag-doll to the icy floor. Garfield barely had any time to feel surprised by what he had heard the Beast say, but felt instant relief as soon as he saw that Raven was breathing normally. His 'body' filled with a calming, relaxing sensation, completely different than what he had felt a moment ago.

Imagine his surprise as he felt himself being forcefully pulled away from that scene, and ripped back into the subconscious world of his master. It was _he _who found himself dangling high above the ground, thick talons around his throat.

"_COWARD!_" roared the Beast, resisting the urge to snap the frail neck in his grasp. "_How DARE you call me a scared __**child**__, when you yourself would watch as the most important person in the world __to us is _**strangled**_ to death?!" _

Garfield could barely move, let alone speak. "I…I didn't…know what to…_do_."

"_You never do, do you?_" The Beast hissed violently, bringing the boys face mere inches from his own. "_That's why you almost let her die on the cliffs! Your inaction nearly caused her death! AGAIN!_"

"And what would…you have done?" Garfield managed, his small hands attempting to loosen the Beast's grip. "What would you have done if I had not been there to rein you in? Attacked Requiem head on? Gotten all of us killed by enraging someone so much more powerful than us? HUH?"

The Beast faltered, his fingers slackening. His eyes were still burning, but now he was looking at himself instead of at Garfield. The kid's words were having an effect.

"You're RIGHT! You _do _act more than I do! You're rash and irresponsible and hasty!" Garfield yelled as best he could. "But is that always the way to do it? How is attacking someone who ends up killing us, the Titans, AND Raven any better than simply NOT acting?"

…_**AS IT WAS SAID…THERE IS NO TRUST…**_

The Beast slowly lowered the struggling little boy, releasing him as soon as he was a foot from the ground. Both entities fell squarely upon their rumps, their hands folded in their laps. The Beast had all but breathed the last of the brimstone from his chest, and Garfield finally calmed his pulse.

"Fine. You made your point." Garfield said dejectedly. "There is no trust; not between us, anyway."

"_So what now, that being said?_" the Beast asked slowly.

…_**THE MOST POWERFUL…WHICH IS IT?…**_

"What?" Garfield asked the sky. "What do you mean by powerful?"

…_**THE STRONGEST…THE FASTEST…**_

"_Of the two of us?_" the Beast asked, looking slightly annoyed. "_That would be me_."

…_**THE MOST INTELLIGENT…THE KINDEST…WHICH IS IT?…**_

Although he hated to admit it, he gestured with his huge chin in Garfield's general direction. "_That would be the pre-pubescent thorn-in-my-side over there._"

Garfield could see where this was going, but he asked anyway. "We need to work together…don't we?"

The voice, still directionless and vast in size, seemed to descend closer to the two sulking figures on either side of BeastBoy's astral form. It was softer, more understanding, and almost feminine in quality.

…_**CAN THIS BEEN DONE?…**_

Garfield didn't like the look that the Beast was shooting him. Although he was about twenty feet away again, his facial expression was still clear as day.

It was one of victory. "_Oh, it can be done alright. But only under certain…circumstances._"

Garfield straightened, standing upon his newly freed legs, and looked to the sky, even though he had no idea where to look exactly. "Will we have an advantage? Enough of one to help Raven and the others?"

There was a pause, as if this omnipotent announcer needed time to consider.

…_**THERE IS NO WAY TO KNOW…**_

The Beast huffed. "_Great. I guess spooky-voice DOESN'T have all the answers._"

…_**THERE IS NO PROMISE…ONLY CHOICE…YOUR CHOICE…**_

A small wind ruffled the hair of both doppelgangers, and both looked at each other. They understood exactly what had to be done. It was one of those understandings that you know is for the best, but at the same time, your stomach tightens at the thought of going through with it.

Garfield felt sick. But he knew the sickness meant that he was prepared to do what was necessary. "Fine."

The Beast cocked a six-inch eye-brow. "_Huh?_"

Garfield hated repeating himself. "I said 'Fine', as in _yes_, I'll do it."

The Beast looked somewhat distrustful of what he was hearing. "_You'll do this? With me? Willingly?_"

"Oh for the love of…YES, OK? I'll put our other stuff aside so that we can help the others." Garfield said, taking several deep breaths. "Just so long as we have a chance."

The Beasts' smiles were usually horrible enough to peal paint, but in this case, his demeanor was much more appreciable as opposed to standoffish. He stood and approached the child, swaggering slightly with new confidence.

"_Low and behold, the child takes the bull by the horns._" The Beast growled softly. "_I guess miracles and all that other Disney crud really can happen, huh?_"

Garfield ignored the Beast's childishness, and faced the matter at hand, addressing the sky. "What must we do?"

The voice replied promptly.

…_**YOU MUST JOIN…ASSUME EACH OTHER…AND THE HOST…**_

"_Could you BE more cryptic?_" The Beast scoffed.

"She…he…IT means that we have to join bodies," Garfield clarified, "Otherwise we cannot exude full influence upon BeastBoy, and the only way we can do that is to…"

The Beast seemed to purr with hunger. "_Oooh…_"

Although it still had no form, the presence seemed to descend to the ground, sidling up next to both entities, making sure that they stayed in the moment.

…_**YOUR TIME IS SHORT…IT MUST BE DONE NOW…OR NOT AT ALL…**_

Garfield did his best not to scream as the Beast wrapped his enormous paw around Garfield's chest and arms. At the same time, he felt a sense of peace, knowing that, as painful and terrifying as the coming experience was sure to be, it had to be done in order to protect those that he, and the Beast, cared about. The Beast knew this too, even though he believed that his motivations were different. He probably still had something he had yet to cook up lurking within his huge skull, but for now, it was time to look past paranoia, and get the job done.

The Beast brought Garfield up to face level, his eyes as pale as the moon. "_Last chance to back out._"

"Just get it over with." Garfield said shakily.

As the Beast slowly, almost playfully opened his gaping jowls, Garfield felt a strange sensation. It felt as though his body were being injected with something, although he couldn't say what. It had a feeling very similar to what one experiences right as they breach the surface of the water after diving and your ears suddenly clear and pop, all the sound around you instantaneously more vivid and sharp. It felt liberating, although still strangely foreign.

Garfield took comfort in this, his eyes watching as the Beast's mouth loomed closer, his throat growling something sadistic just before Garfield was swallowed whole.

"_You might feel a slight pinch._"

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

[Two Hours Later

"BEASTBOY! Come Back! Do not break the line!"

"Forget it! He's eight miles past crazy! Keep FIGHTING!"

Such were the last words spoken to BeastBoy before he had disappeared into the melee.

The situation was thoroughly FUBAR, to say the least. Any person who has ever witnessed or been a part of a major military or personal conflict knows exactly what that abbreviation means. The events taking place beneath the Antarctic, unbeknownst to the rest of the globe, would certainly have qualified.

Gunfire and blaster-report were a constant. The air was heavy with the concussive fluctuations of explosions, rapid-fire discharges and detonations. Although Brother Blood had long since vented the cavern of any remaining vaporized shielding-agent, the hanging fog of smoke and steam constricted the atmosphere horribly. There was no level ground. Anything that had once been flat and walk-able was now a mangled mass of ice and metal, very much resembling the desolate plain of a frozen volcano. The moonlight from above did little to cut the gloom of the scene, having been nearly extinguished from view a few hours ago. The smell of chemicals and burning debris gave the floor of the ice chamber an acrid, deathly odor, almost as if one were walking through a very cold rendering plant.

And in the middle of all this carnage, backed against a pile of discarded robot chassis's, were four ragged teenagers.

"Raven, on your right!"

"Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"

"Cy, check your six! Two of them!"

"I could use a hand, Star!"

"Get _back,_ you gork-munching _breedlesnits_!"

"What _she_ said!"

Robin ached. He had been in strenuous situations before, but at this point, after nearly five hours of combat, his body was starting to send him warning signals. It had started with his stomach, the abdominal muscles feeling stretched and torn. But then it grew, and migrated to his lower and middle back, stretching with tiny, pin-prickling fingers until it covered his shoulders and neck. By now, his chest was beginning to burn, the pectorals feeling battered and bruised. They, along with his stiffening biceps and week quadriceps, were trying to tell Robin something.

His body was going to give out.

And the drones just kept coming.

Robin glanced at Starfire, about twenty yards away, as a whole troop of Atlas's fell upon her. A second later, he watched as the pile suddenly levitated into the air, the surprised expression upon the drone's faces all but human. The pile began to spin, and suddenly, all the Atlas soldiers were thrown in various directions, but all of which were far from where the Titan's stood.

"Star! Are you alright?" Robin yelled while parrying a blow from another robot.

"I could use a 'vacation', as you might say," Starfire replied, wiping a small trickle of blood from her eye, "since this ordeal has proven quite taxing."

"Tell me about it!" Raven yelled from some distance away, splitting a drone lengthwise down the middle.

"I don't get it." Cyborg said, breathing hard as he briefly examined his dented knuckles before another drone appeared. "These guys are coming four or five at a time, but there must be over a thousand times that many out there."

"Indeed," Starfire said, using her heat-vision to sever a head from another drone, "Should we not have been overrun by now?"

Raven forced a wave of her own energy into a phalanx of spikes, sending them in all directions, puncturing any drone unlucky enough to still be standing nearby.

"Actually, I don't think it's strange at all." Raven said, resting upon the jagged ice for a few moments.

"Oh, no?" Robin asked, ducking another attack, "Why not?"

Raven looked south, towards the soldiers that were still approaching. She could see the line of warriors, still steadily approaching, somewhat hidden by the several mounds of destroyed robots that were lying all over the ruined ice. But their approach was strange; it looked lopsided. Anyone who was watching could tell that, despite the general direction of the wave upon wave of deadly machines, there was something less than linear about their path.

They seemed to be leaning slightly to the left, as if some huge object had diverted this massive river of metal and firepower, their footsteps thundering away on the frozen ground.

Something else was attracting this army's attention.

"Something tells me that _we_ are not the primary target…at least, not yet." Raven said, her eyes suddenly worrisome.

Robin looked in Raven's direction, and followed her gaze. Both flinched slightly as they witnessed an Atlas drone fly several meters into the air, and crash with a thud several yards away.

"_What_ was _that_?" Starfire asked, genuinely amazed at the sight of the flying robot.

Raven sighed deeply, dispatching another two attackers with a scion-blast as she answered Starfire's question.

"It's BeastBoy," Raven said slowly. "And he's having _fun_."

Raven had a talent for understatement in this case, as Cyborg would soon learn. He, and Starfire, managed enough of a reprieve to scope out BeastBoy, nearly three-hundred yards away, as he fought his own battle.

"MORE!" came a throaty, almost unintelligible voice, raking across Raven's ears even from far away. "BRING ME _MORE!_"

Raven watched a solitary figure leap high above the heads of the approaching Atlas onslaught. For its size, such an acrobatic feat would seem almost comical for such a brute: the sheer size of its chest and shoulders made the darkly silhouetted figure look top-heavy. And yet it soared, higher and higher into the air of the dome, only to crash loudly upon a group of well-armed automatons. The impact didn't seem to phase it: a moment latter, followed closely by the sound of ripping metal and detonating chemicals, the figure leapt again, seeking a new spot to conquer for itself.

The Beast was in full control of BeastBoy's body: of that much, Raven was certain. When BeastBoy was still mostly within his human form, he had leapt away, directly toward the approaching wall of drones, all but disappearing from sight. In her minds eye she could see with vivid clarity exactly what was taking place nearly two football-fields away from her. Even though her attention was diverted between her own brief conflicts and her spastic conversations with her other teammates, Raven still bore witness to everything BeastBoy did.

She didn't like what she was seeing.

"FIRE A VOLLEY!"

"IT'S TOO STRONG! FALL BACK!"

"AIM FOR THE HEAD AND CHEST! _HEAD AND CHEST!_"

Raven felt a twinge of mental fatigue as she telepathically witnessed a set of iron-black talons impale the reinforced armor-plating upon an Atlas's chest. The hooked weapons pierced the metal like tin-foil, curling upwards with sickening voracity. They then pulled free, dislodging, among other things, the central power core of the drone, discarding it like so much garbage. Sparks and hydraulic fluid spewed in every direction, before the shell of steel fell to one side, its eyes fading as its short, violent life came to an end. The final scene of carnage for Raven was witnessing the head of the Atlas drone suddenly shadow-over, only to be crushed like an egg-shell under the large, clawed foot of its attacker.

"Raven, snap out of it!" Cyborg yelled from somewhere far away, giving Raven a mental slap across the face.

**Ker-**_**CLANNNNGGG!**_

Raven reasserted herself just as Cyborg blocked a thunderous blow from the Atlas soldier standing over her. She could see Cyborg strain under the weight, blocking the one-ton fist with his fore arm, his feet being ground into the snow under the pressure. Gritting his teeth, Cyborg switched arms, and deployed his cannon.

"Get out'uh my FACE!" he yelled.

_**THHHHHHRRRRUUUUUUUMMMM!**_

The entirety of the drones' chest-cavity disintegrated in a flash of supercharged sound and energy. Having only a head and two lifeless arms left, Cyborg caught the sizzling metallic skull with his now free hand, and punted the chunk of metal as far as he could.

"Are you even paying attention?!" Cyborg hollered, turning on Raven. "You nearly got back-handed by a fist that weighs twice what _I _do! What the heck is with you?"

Raven stared blankly, not believing she had let her guard down so entirely. Before answering, Raven scowled in the direction of the Atlas soldiers, and whipped her arm in a sweeping motion towards them. A wall of black, unstable energy careened towards the wall of robots, detonating on impact like a cluster bomb. The debris caused collateral damage to the surrounding flanks, wiping out nearly one-hundred drones in one fell swoop.

"Suffice it to say, I have some fairly persistent issues on my mind. Alright?" Raven said with a corrosive undertone, her hair billowing in the wind caused by her own explosive attack.

Cyborg eyed the wreckage, and then his teammate. "Fair enough. But quick harpin' on BB. He'll be our problem soon enough: concentrate on the jerks trying to kill us NOW, alright?"

Raven sighed with frustration, but nodded regardless. She levitated into the air, and began a semi-assault on the drones to her right, keeping her head in the fight instead of every other event around her.

'_I'll concentrate on the fight,' _Raven thought to herself, conjuring another sphere of energy into her open palm, _'and make my way to BeastBoy in the process.'_

A few kilometers away, comfortably seated atop a throne of stone, well beyond the range of the battle, sat a strangely calm man, surrounded by a handful of loyal cohorts. Raven could see the tiny circle of people perched atop the massive structure in the center of the great ice-chasm. Much as she would have loved to teleport right to that spot and end this battle at its source, she knew a one-on-one confrontation with that platinum-haired hellion would be suicide. Her best bet would be to wait it out, and help those she could until her opportunity presented itself: in this case, the person she felt responsible for harming, however unintentionally, involved in a kamikaze attack of his own.

'_Please don't let me be too late…' _Raven prayed.

Said circle of villains were indeed vulnerable at the moment, if by 'vulnerable' you mean 'completely exposed to attack by anyone foolish enough to ignore the vast army of robotic soldiers at their feet'. The seven individuals seemed almost at ease as they witnessed an ocean of mechanized firepower slowly begin to overpower the five persistent dots in the distance.

Control Freak slowly approached the stone seat that held his master, keeping his eyes on SLADE's new creation that hovered at his right hand. "My lord, if I may, I have a question."

SLADE's one visible eye lazily swiveled to look at the portly teen. "And that is…?"

"Well, my master," Control Freak stammered, "your order was to crush the titans in the most efficient way, hence the swarming robot blitzkrieg, correct?"

"Was that your question?" SLADE asked peevishly.

"Uh…er…no. I was just curious: why not just train five of the heavy energy cannons on them, one for each titan? There's no way they're faster than the speed of light, and even if we miscalculate their trajectory, the explosion would knock them out, long enough for a final shot. BOOM! No more Teen Titans!" Control Freak said with nervous vigor.

SLADE seemed almost bored, and showed it by actually leaning on one arm, as if tired or uninterested. He gestured to the girl standing by his side, indicating that he wanted her to answer the question.

"Are you this dumb because of some dominant chromosome? Or is it from all the TV?" Requiem asked sharply, indicating just how annoyed she was.

Control Freak studied the genetic amalgam. Her hand was encased in a pulsing, translucent apparatus that very much resembled the tentacles of an octopus. The arms of said cephalopod were wrapped tightly around Requiem's forearm, periodically unwrapping and rewrapping themselves around her pale flesh. The head of this device contained her hand, suspended in a bio-mimetic fluid that seeped into her every pore. Though the head of this contraction was primarily opaque, Control Freak could still make out the odd, somewhat sinister workings of the synthetic reconstruction plug.

The process couldn't have been comfortable. "Who you callin' dumb? As a matter of fact, you owe your memory processor and photo-reconstruction technology to _me: _without it, you'd never be able to consciously retrieve such vast amounts of information!"

"Perhaps the memory re-sequencing technology would have served you better," Requiem replied with a touch of malice, "since you've obviously forgotten that a discharge from any of those artillery batteries could rupture and negate the stability of the cavern floor. The Titan's would cease to exist, perhaps, but everything here would also sink to the ocean floor."

"Your failure to remember the methodical nature of this operation is growing tiresome, Control Freak," SLADE said, sitting up again, "so much so that I suggest you contemplate the competency of your questions _before_ you ask them, from now on. Understood?"

Control Freak felt six inches tall, and slinked back behind the shadow of the tall throne. The fact that SLADE was in perfect control of Requiem, and demonstrated it by seizing control of her by force, was enough to make any man shake. He wouldn't be asking anything else.

Atlas…the _original _Atlas…stepped forward, dwarfing the throne, SLADE, and Requiem with his presence…but only in terms of size. "Perhaps a volley of concussion rockets would serve as a sufficient sneak attack, my lord? The sheer volume of drones will eventually overtake the titans, true. But such a drawn-out attack seems tedious when no risk is present in a direct circumvention."

"It won't be necessary," SLADE said, standing slowly and approaching the edge of the platform, Requiem at his heel, "since whatever drones we use can simply be recycled after these nuisances are taken care of. There's no reason to waste good artillery on an already guaranteed victory."

Atlas considered that, and nodded. "As you wish, my lord."

"Besides," SLADE continued, folding his arms behind his back, looking in the direction of the most significant combat, "one of these Titan's is having far too much fun for me to simply end the conflict so suddenly. And since it _is_ his last bit of fun…"

Said Titan was indeed enjoying himself, much to Raven's chagrin. "Out of my WAY!"

_**SHLANG! POW!**_

The unlucky Atlas drone found himself disarmed, quite literally. Both his arms and legs fell away from his still hovering torso, leaving it with a perplexed look on its face as Raven flew past at top speed.

"THERE'S ANOTHER ONE! GET HER!" yelled another soldier.

Raven skimmed above the heads of the Atlas drones, ducking and weaving in and out of grasping hands. Every so often, one hand got lucky, and snatched her out of mid air, pulling her down into a claustrophobic fray of cold metal and fire-red eyes.

"WE'VE GOT HER!" they would shout with premature victory.

"You have got _nothing!_" sang another female voice, just before a blaze of green energy disintegrated the nearest robot.

"Thanks for the assist, Starfire," Raven said, "but I've got to get through this line! You should help the others, and your sister!"

"I am helping a friend, Raven." Starfire said, deflecting another blow from behind, giving Raven a knowing smile.

"But what about Robin and-?"

"I will assist you as far as I can, then I will return to help them. Blackfire is hidden beneath a hefty pile of drones, and so she will not be discovered for some time." Star said, standing firm.

"But Starfire…"

"I know how important it is that you reach him," Starfire interjected, zapping another drone in the face, "and so I will help you achieve that goal."

Raven inhaled a deep, chest-filling breath of air, and slowly let it escape. She wasn't accustomed to these new sensations of profound connection and gratitude for a friend, and so the tightness in her heart felt a bit uncomfortable. The look she gave Starfire said much more than words could have.

"Thank you," Raven said, "for helping me."

Starfire smiled warmly, before her eyes ignited the very armor of an approaching assailant. She never lost a beat.

Another twenty minutes of continuous combat earned both titans approximately two-hundred yards of covered ground. Raven knew that flying was an ultimately fruitless maneuver, since, every time she was forced to land, she would have to deal, not only with the approaching drones, but the ones she flew over as well. It became a World War One style of fighting: grabbing for every foot-hold, every extra yard, continuing to struggle for the right to even stand.

"_BRING ME_ _MORE!_" came the sound-off of that guttural voice once again, this time much closer.

'_We're almost there!' _Raven thought with a growing feeling of both excitement and dread. "BeastBoy! I'm coming!"

"I shall depart now, Raven! Good luck!" Starfire said, sailing high into the air, and out of sight.

"You too, Star! And thank you again!" Raven said, looking up for a moment before charging on.

The skirmish was ongoing, no matter what Raven did. Regardless of how many heads she lopped off or bodies she melted, the ever-present smell and sound and sight of battle never left her senses. It filled every one of her pores, soaked her muscles with fatigue and congealed her blood into a fine sludge. The motions themselves were becoming so mechanical that she felt not too different from the brutes who so continuously tried to slay her.

'_Keep pushing,' _she told herself, back flipping into a small circle of drones that, of course, immediately turned on her, _'keep pushing and don't turn back!'_

The seven robots suddenly found themselves compressed into spheres one-tenth of their original size, rolling and bobbing about like croquet balls. Raven's eyes glowed fiercely and, seizing her opportunity, moved on.

'_Just a little further,' _she thought again, the trickle of blood in her eye blinding her momentarily, _'a little further and you can set things right! You KNOW you can!'_

It felt as if Raven were a bowl of clay in a kiln, slowly but surely hardening under intense heat and pressure. The simple movements of her hands became exhausting, and her boots, tattered and worn though they were, seemed to be filled with lead shot. The simplest of incantations blurred her vision and took a heavy toll on her flesh, since her physical body could barely withstand the mental exertion of her powers. The thought of simply lying upon the ice and taking a long nap became more and more appealing…

There! Just ahead! A tall figure with mangy, lime-green fur…

"Azarath, Metrion, _ZINTHOS_!"

Like a drained Olympic shot-putter, Raven threw her hands outwards to either side of her body, expelling a huge shock-wave of power with the last bit of muscle she had left. The result was an exponentially expanding phalanx of energy, surging outwards with enough force to blanket an area the size of a soccer field. Every drone instantly short-circuited or disassembled in mid-fight, scattering the ice with sizzling debris.

The pressure was too great. Raven fell to one battered knee, her arms still suspended in a crucifix fashion. Her breathing was deep but haggard, feeling as though each breath were forcing her ribs apart. She bowed her head in weariness, willing herself not to collapse under the weight of what her body commanded of her. It seemed as though her only true motivation to stay conscious was the realization that she had finally made it: the person that she had fought so desperately to reach was, at last, directly before her.

"BeastBoy, this has to stop!" Raven yelled, at first, not looking up at the tall figure standing over thirty feet away. "I've come to bring you back to the group! No matter what was said or what you might have heard, you can't just go off on some kind of vendetta-destruction spree! You have to realize…!"

_**GGRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr……**_

Raven stiffened. The sound of gurgling tar and twisting metal within some kind of massive hollow structure prickled at her ears; only a very hostile throat could produce such a sound. The menacing tone crept over the now clear but jagged ice, scathing it with an even more reproachful texture.

Raven knew that growl all too well, but all the common sense in the world wouldn't keep her from looking at its source.

Ambient light created a silhouette around the creature, blocking out most of its frontal features. Deep lines of green besmirched by splotches of a black-red substance could be seen streaking over its gargantuan shoulders and thick neck. The chest, sporting several burns and lacerations, was also stained, covered in a thick layer of artificial lubricants and fuel. The tightly packed musculature, woven around the heavy bones like steel cable, showed little or no sign of serious injury, and merely heaved every time the creature took a deep, resonating breath.

Raven studied the creature as she slowly returned to her feet. It seemed to lean to one side, almost leisurely, resting upon its long feet and large forearms. As Raven got closer, she could see that one foot rested upon the ice, while the other rested upon a jagged outcropping, so far as Raven could tell from all the smoke. It did not hunch over, so much as stand with sloppy posture: something had gotten its attention, but not enough of it to square off and prepare for a fight.

The talons on the left hand gave Raven a general feeling of dread: not an easy thing to accomplish. Its hand was as black as pitch, drenched in some unknown liquid that dripped from the talons like blood. The drops stained the ice wherever they fell, rolling from the creatures palm like rainwater.

_**SCRAPESCRAPE! SCRAPE!**_

The high-pitched sound startled Raven for a moment, because she couldn't pinpoint exactly where it was coming from. It sounded like nails on a chalk-board, irritating and strained. A quick look to the Beast's feet revealed exactly what it was.

The drone was pinned with its back against the ice, both of its legs missing. The chest cavity was partially collapsed, crushed under the dead weight of the leaning creature. There was no panic in its one intact eye, since a drone really has no concept of fear. It looked at Raven with red indifference, grasping at the ice with mangled metal fingers. It looked as if it was trying to escape, or perhaps a subroutine was miss-feeding information to the appendages. Either way, it wasn't succeeding.

Raven felt unusually uncomfortable with the silence. "BeastBoy…can you hear me? Do you know who I am?"

Apparently, the eyes of this impressive creature had been closed the whole time Raven had been studying the situation. In split second of recognition, the Beast opened its eyes, bathing Raven in a chilling glow of blue-white light. The eyes narrowed into thin slits of scrutinizing, cold razors, sharp enough to stop Raven in her tracks.

"I know you can hear me," Raven stated, assuming a non-threatening but still firm tone, "no matter what form you are in, I know you can hear me. And I think you recognize me, too."

**SNAP-**_**RRRRIP!**_

She was barely five yards away when BeastBoy struck the drone with his right hand. It was so fast that Raven barely caught it, and only reacted about two seconds after the fact. She stumbled back several steps, trying to piece together what she had seen.

The Beast had raked its claws across the neck of the drone, severing its head with spurt of sparks. In the same gesture, it lifted the ottoman-sized object in his massive hand, and held it at eye level, just out of his line of vision. Raven watched as the red of the robot's optical sensor blinked brightly for a second, then dimmed away.

A second later, the Beast curled his hand into a fist, compressing the heavy steel into rough ball, its talons piercing and scaring the outer armor with ease. The CPU within whined under the pressure, before being folded in on itself, and dropped to the ice with a hollow clunking sound.

"Was that really necessary?" Raven asked, still unsettled by the side of the drones imploded face.

The Beast's smeared face gave a carnal grin, before he stomped his foot upon the opposite side of the drones lifeless body. The result was an impressive plume of shattered ice and snow, as well as the drone kick-flipping into the air like an elongated skateboard. The Beast caught the two-ton torso with his left hand and, as if tossing a piece of paper, hurled the body over the back of his head with little effort. It soared nearly fifty yards straight up before crashing into its comrades at the edge of Ravens shockwave circumference.

"_No,_" responded the Beast, enjoying the astonished look upon Raven's face, "_but it was _fun"

Raven ignored her urge to hurl: the Beast's breath was just as rancid in reality as it had been in the world of the subconscious, only now it had a tofu chaser. "Why have you appeared? We didn't need _your _assistance. We want BeastBoy, not you."

The Beast leaned forward on his knuckles, bracing his weight so that he hovered only a few feet above Raven's head. His pupil-less eyes gave away nothing: no regret, no fear. Raven may as well have been staring into a set of bug-zappers.

"_I told you, Raven: BeastBoy is gone. I'll be doing his share of the fighting…and then some._" The Beast rumbled, jutting out his jaw in defiance.

"I swear, if you harmed that little boy…!" Raven warned.

The Beast looked incredulous. "_Harmed? You think I did something to that pint-sized pain in order to escape?_"

"You spelled it out for me, more or less: that's the ONLY way you can escape!" Raven said, getting up enough gusto to levitate into the air slightly. "Overpowering and devouring a helpless child is the only way you can break the cerebral bonds that held you, and her you are."

"_HUH-HA HA HA HA HA!_" The Beast bellowed with glee, throwing back his head with a wide open mouth. "_If only it had been that much FUN! You haven't the faintest idea how easy it was for me to take control of this body, do you?_"

In truth, Raven didn't know the specifics, other than what had transpired between them when her body had fallen under the control of the emotional sadist that lay within her own psyche. But she couldn't let _him _know that. Best to shift the conversation, while it lasted.

"Why are you fighting all these drones on your own?" Raven said, her eyes drifting to the scattered clumps of mangled machinery. "Have you been cooped up so long that all you want to do is kill things?"

"_Sounds like a hoot and a half. But actually, I've been rather preoccupied with this nagging thought in the back of 'my' head._" The Beast said, one eye narrowing with perplexing slowness, his smile growing. "_Something about a duty, a promise, or a subject to that effect. Either way, it isn't loud enough to distract me from all the prey out here, or the fun I'm having._"

Raven looked up at the dirty, slightly ravaged figure that had once been BeastBoy. In his place stood a mountain of muscle and malice, a composite of callousness and contempt. Yet even now, as she took in this manifestation, a certain familiar emotion that she should have been experiencing was not present.

It was cockiness; she couldn't few any cockiness.

"You're a fake." Raven said softly.

The Beast's smile vanished. His brow creased sharply, and his jaw clenched audibly. Raven could hear the strain on the molars, like a squeaky metal chair.

"_What did you say?_" he asked slowly.

"You're a fake. A fraud, a con." Raven said to the Beast's face, without flinching. "You aren't the tough, angry, loathsome creature you try to come across as. As a matter of fact, I'll bet the only reason you left the group was because you can't figure out what's going on with you. But whatever it is, it has you restless, agitated…running."

The Beast swept Raven into his right hand faster than Raven could blink. Her words rang with the same tone and accusation as the speech given to him by the kid. It set his nerves on fire at hearing the same basic blather all over again.

The subsequent lift into the air made Raven dizzy, so much so that it took her a moment to realize just how close the Beast was holding her to his face. The sudden proximity was unsettling, to say the least.

"_You speak out of turn, girl. Even the kid had more common sense than to insult me to my face._" The Beast hissed, never fully opening his mouth. "_And I've acquired a lot more mobility since we last met._"

His grip was tight and firm, constricting Raven's body with serpentine strength. His hand was almost as wide as Raven was tall, allowing only her head to protrude from between his thumb and forefinger. She could feel her shoulders being forced into her collar bone, the cartilage popping as it slid.

"You'd like nothing better…than to crush me, wouldn't you?" Raven asked, her eyes suddenly feeling puffy from all the pressure. "Compress me into a human kick-stand?"

"_Half_-_human!_" The Beast replied cruelly. Raven let it slide.

"Then…do it," Raven said through a choked breath, "and _prove_…you're as evil as you say!"

Raven vaguely witnessed the Beast as he raised his free arm, arching above his head a good fifteen feet in the air. Raven watched as his fist clenched tight, and his teeth peeked from between his lips, shiny and jagged. It became apparent that the Beast intended to crush Raven's head like an egg beneath brick, silencing her voice for good…

…but he stopped. Just as his fist had reached the apex of its height…he stopped. Just as his breathing had quickened to that pulsing, pressurized pace, similar to that of a blast-furnace…he stopped. Just as the muscles in his clenching fingers had all but halted the flow of blood through Raven's body…he stopped.

Raven didn't breath for a full sixty seconds. Not because of the pressure upon her body, but because it suddenly lessened. Not because of the claws burrowing into her flesh, but because they suddenly retracted. Not because of the knotted tension in the Beast's muscles, but because he suddenly relaxed.

Her eye's fixed upon the Beast's deep gaze. As his fingers slowly relinquished their hold upon her battered body, Raven witnessed, arguably, the most perplexing sight she had ever seen in her short, teenage life.

'_What in the world…?' _she thought.

They were huge and puffy. They seemed more subtle, less abrasive. Their arch became less menacing, and their intensity began to fade. Truly, the eyes of her assailant looked much different to Raven.

But it was the tears that momentarily ceased her breath.

"Garfield…?" Raven whispered.

It had to have been. Somehow, in spite of the terrible grip exerted upon BeastBoy's body by the Beast within him, Garfield seemed to be present as well. It was faint, and almost imperceptible, but it was there. On two separate occasions, she had seen this look in BeastBoy's eyes. The first had been upon that ruined glacial ridge a few days earlier, just after BeastBoy had confessed a horrible truth about his own uncertainty.

The second, and probably most memorable time, had been while both teens were imprisoned in that cold, dark cell within SLADE's fortress.

The fiery sensation of Hope rising within her body made Raven feel emboldened, and she spoke again, relishing the brief, fleeting instance of Garfield's control over the Beast.

"Garfield! I know that's you!" Raven yelled with her weakened voice. "You're doing it! You're breaking through!"

A flicker in his eyes; a brief flash of realization…

"Don't stop! Fight! You don't have to do what he tells you!" Raven said, as strong as was possible for her at the moment.

Another twitch…something trying to push its way through…

"Don't be afraid! You are the stronger!" Raven tried, clinging to the Beast's huge thumb in an effort to stay conscious. "He can't control you any more!"

The grip on Raven's body tightened violently. Raven felt the wind pushed from her chest, and the pain in her ribs was nearly enough to make her faint. Her wide, open eyes witnessed as the tears upon the Beast's cheeks were hastily pushed away, replaced once more by that icy glare. To her horror, Raven watched as the Beast bellowed a deep, resounding roar, and raised its free hand above its head once more.

As the world around her became blurry, Raven waited for the axe-chop of the Beast's fist, a blow that would certainly snuff her life out for good. Raven barely made out her surroundings: the dimming light…the sparkle of teeth…the seemingly planet-sized fist falling from the sky…

**Ker-**_**PLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooommmmmmm…**_

The sound waves from the strike did two things: firstly, Raven's eyes sprang open as if they had been propelled by large iron springs, and secondly, it forced air into her lungs, primarily out of the surprise that she wasn't dead.

_**HUFF…HUFF…HUFF…huff…huff…huff…**_

The Beast was breathing deeply and haggardly. Raven found that her own breath was in sync with the large creature, and finally tilted her head in the direction of his leveled forearm.

The force of the Beast's strike had literally driven the approaching Atlas drone _into _the ice. It had attempted to attack both of them whilst they were distracted, and would have succeeded, were it not for the carefully place strike of the Beast's fist. The drone's head was crumpled like a crushed pop-can, and the sheer force of the hit planted the drone up to his 'knees' in the seemingly frozen ground. No other drones had made it that far, and now, the others were keeping their distance.

Raven pushed the now slack fingers open, doing her best to avoid his carving-knife talons. "Garfield? Is that you?"

The Beast turned his head back to her, his eyes now distracted from the drone he had just inserted into the ground like a railroad-spike. The eyes were still puffy and unsure, but the malicious tone was very familiar.

"_It's just part of the deal,_" the Beast rumbled, releasing Raven from his iron grasp and looking away, "_the deal that lets me out. I have to help you…_"

But Raven wasn't convinced. Even as she dropped to the ice, unable to even slow her descent, she knew there was more.

"Let you out?" Raven asked, rather quizzically in spite of her exhaustion. "Deal? What are you talking about? You can only get out if you nullify Garfield's persona within BeastBoy. He doesn't make deals, and neither do you."

The Beast slowly backed away, just a few feet at a time, until he was a few yards from the crumpled drone and Raven. "_And I don't answer questions, either. Besides, it's not your concern…_"

Raven summoned up a bit of her strength, and used it propel herself forward with unusual swiftness and silence. She was firmly in the Beast's face again. "It IS my concern. How did you do it? How did you get hold of Garfield? Tell me what set you loose."

"_I owe _NO _explanation to you, or anyone else!_" The Beast barked, still steadily backing his massive bulk in the opposite direction. "_My reasons are my own!_"

"If you harmed him, then you owe ME an explanation," Raven insisted with more vigor than she actually possessed, "and the fact that you're avoiding the subject and backing down so readily is proof of that."

Raven knew that the Beast could sense that he was being trapped, and couldn't find an escape route. The strange sensation of control, however small it might have been, was encouraging for Raven. It was the closest she had ever come to making headway with her friend, and the entities within him. She wasn't about to give up her shot now; his life, as well as her life and the life of her friends, may depend on it.

"_I did what was necessary!_" The Beast insisted, one of his clawed hands pressed to his swimming head in an attempt to stabilize his thoughts. "_And I avoid nothing! You don't know what you're talking about!_"

"Oh, but I think I do," Raven said, matching her staggered levitation to the pace of the Beast's withdrawal, "and what's more, I think you did something terrible to that little boy. I think you saw an opportunity, back when BeastBoy was being berated by the others and I, and seized it, just so you could poke out for a while and have some carnal fun."

"_I seized no opportunity,_" the Beast continued, relenting somewhat, "_but I created a means to an end; the benefit of freedom, combat, and destruction, all in pursuit of something…_"

Raven noticed the hesitation. "What? Something what?"

The Beast began to grind his teeth in frustration of his own inability to control his thoughts and words, the words barely audible over the gravel-sharp sound. "_Mutually beneficial._"

Boom! Big puzzle piece. "Beneficial to whom? Who are you talking about?"

The growing conflict within the 'Beast's' head seemed to grow inexorably. The large creature bent to the ice, dug his tungsten-dense claws into the fractured ice-floor, and raked them like massive threshers over the cold surface. Small rooster-tails of flying debris skittered across whatever flat surfaces of the ice remained intact, the Beast's strength carving deep grooves all around his body.

Raven wouldn't let this temper-tantrum deter her. "You _did _make a deal, didn't you? How else could you have escaped your cell? BeastBoy wasn't unconscious, and he wasn't under Requiem's control. There must have been something else, something too valuable to pass up, that was being offered to you."

"_NO…_" the Beast denied.

"Who was it?" Raven demanded, getting steadily closer. "Who made you the deal?"

"_I won't…_"

"You will! Tell me who it was!" Raven practically yelled, getting as close as she dared. "Tell me who agreed to set you free!"

_**CROOMCROOM!**_

She had been distracted. Both of them had been. Raven had no idea how near the other drone was to their proximity, but it had obviously been pretty close. Raven had no time to react as the drone lowered his weapon, charged, and fired two heat-blasts directly at her back from only thirty feet behind her. The sound didn't even reach her ears before her slightly levitated form was silhouetted by the burning red energy, casting a blood-red shadow upon the ice.

Nor did she have time to react when the Beast suddenly front-flipped over Raven, landed, stood, and opened his arms wide.

_**Buh-BAM! BAM!**_

The draft from the blasts caused Raven's hair to clover her perplexed face. The discharged heat could be felt all over her exposed, battered skin, and the sound was similar to that of rocket-propelled grenade going off by her ear (she should know; after all, it had happened enough times in her career as a Titan).

Raven turned as quickly as she could, finding herself in the shadow of the tall creature. His arms looked as though they were nailed to a cross, his fingers and shoulders spread wide. The smell of burning meat was everywhere, pungent and acrid like carrion.

Raven soared over the Beast's head and landed just before him, facing the marching drone not fifteen feet away. Her eyes pulsed with energy.

"Azarath, Metrion, _ZINTHOS_!"

Raven clapped her hands as if she were trying to crush a fly before her face. The resulting collision of her palms produced an arrow-shaped bolt of highly-focused psychic power. The bolt traversed the distance between her and the drone at faster-than-light speeds, piercing the toughened armor like cheap-margarine. The drone bowed outwards from the building power-surge, and finally erupted in purple black flames.

"What happened?" Raven asked, turning back to the still outstretched Beast. "Can you move your arms? How did you know that that drone was-?"

"_The Boy…_" came a whisper.

Raven thought her ears were still ringing from the explosion. "What did you say?"

The Beasts' eyes were partially closed, and his brow was weak and slacked, but he still managed to speak. "_The deal…was made…with the boy. We were given a choice…our choice…by…__**something**__…inside BeastBoy's head_. _Some kind of…_"

Raven felt the answer before he said it. "A voice? A presence?"

The Beast could only nod, trying to breathe normally as his massive arms lowered to the ice. "_No trust…it said there was no trust between us…no cooperation…_"

Raven pieced things together as accurately as she could. "But something forced you two to reconcile…no, not reconcile, but find some common ground. Something that was…_mutually beneficial._"

The Beast's legs were very tired. He bent on one knee, trying to keep his face up. "_Requiem…choking the life out of you……we had to act, or watch her destroy all of you…_"

Raven could see the sequence of events in her head; the voice somehow showing both entities what was occurring in the outer-world, granting them both freedom, and giving them a choice as to what to do about it.

But something didn't fit. It would be obvious that BeastBoy and his younger persona Garfield would want to help in any way that they could. So why not allow Garfield to…

"_I am the physically superior of the two…_" The Beast said slowly, as if reading her mind, "_so the brat relented…and I ATE him._"

It made sense now, at least for the most part. But something still stuff in Raven's tired, injured head. "What's in it for you?"

The Beast looked mystified, as well as tired. "_What?_"

"What do you get out of this?" Raven asked, leaning forward slightly to tend to the Beast's injuries. "Garfield told me that I was important to him, so it makes sense that he would want to help. BeastBoy told me he would…_protect_ me, no matter what it took, so that both of us…all _five_ of us, could defeat SLADE and go home. Even while Requiem was pushing every conceivable button in my body that allowed me to insult and…_hurt _him, in the most horrible way possible, he still insisted on my better nature, and tried to remind me of that nature, even as I was attacking him."

The Beast stared at the dark girl, saying nothing.

"Garfield wouldn't put you in the driver's seat lightly. And BeastBoy fights for control over you at every turn," Raven continued, looking the Beast in his face as her frustration and anxiety grew, "so what gives? Garfield would never let anything happen to the people he cares about. If he could have saved his family, he would have, but he couldn't. Garfield, and BeastBoy, would never let anything happen to the _Titans_…to his _new _family. And BeastBoy would do anything to protect the people he cares about…that he would never let anything harm _me, _even though I'm not entirely sure why, so long as he had a breath in his body…that he wouldn't let anyone hurt me _ever_ again…"

In the middle of her choked, sad, angry words, Raven suddenly stopped. Her eye's had slowly drifted from the Beast's primeval, surly face, to his chest.

The two heat-blasts had struck the Beast in both of his large pectoral muscles. The fur was, for the most part, burned away, exposing deeply scared and ravaged flesh. The blasts must have been fired from a rifled barrel of some sort, because the burns had left a slight spiral indentation in the thick muscle. Blood was slowly dripping from many ruptured veins and arteries all over the Beast's seared chest, slowly collecting and matting the remaining sizzling fur upon his abdomen. Every time the Beast drew a ragged breath, the wound would reopen all along his ribs, exposing more ruptured muscle and torn skin.

Even as Raven attempted to heal the garish injury, her mind and thoughts were elsewhere; her memories of the giant creature vaulting over her head, blocking the fiery blasts with his body, taking the brunt of the hit, never, even now, failing to stand and protect…

Protect…

Raven raised her beautiful, suddenly understanding eyes, to this Beast…this _being_…who had saved her life.

All trace of anger had long-since departed her deep, cool gaze.

"…and you won't either, will you?" she said, finishing her hanging sentence, not so much asking as confirming what she now knew to be true. "You have the same need…you want to keep the same promise."

When the Beast finally spoke again, after Raven had healed him as much as she could, his eyes were downcast and his voice was still gruff, cynical and peevish. But it also hummed great deal of reassurance.

"_First the boy…then the Beast…_" The Beast rumbled as he stood once more, slowly and deliberately facing Raven. "_Two halves of the greater whole. BeastBoy never had a chance._"

Raven wasn't sure what the Beast was getting at, but the large creature gave a wry smile, and opened his suddenly less-piercing eyes. "_Though BeastBoy and Garfield wouldn't want me telling you this, it seems you conquered all three of us, Raven. I've never lost so thoroughly…nor have I ever felt so relieved to be defeated._"

Raven felt a very small smile—of all things—begin to tug at the corners of her lips. In his offhanded and somewhat disparaging way, she felt as though he had paid her a compliment.

Of course, that didn't keep him from being snide, cocking his head to one side and scowling slightly at her. "_Happy now?_"

"Not yet..." came a response.

But it wasn't from Raven.

"_What the he-?_"

"FIRST LINE **READYYYYYYY**…_FIRE!_"

_**CROOMCROOM! CROOMCROOM!**_

**T-**_**SSSSSSSEEEEEEEW!**_

"Azarath, Metrion, _ZINTHOS_!"

The ice exploded into a billowing wall of flame and sorcery. The onslaught of over one-hundred concussion blasts and at least a dozen particle-beams was met by a twenty-foot wall of solid reflective energy, rooted into the ice but still violently vibrating from the combined attack. The other side of the wall lit up like New Years Eve, the spectacular release of power—on both sides—strong enough to rattle the very walls of the chamber. The effect was similar to ten bolts of lightening converging upon a single point, releasing all their collective force in a single devastating blast.

_**CRRRRACKA-**_**BOOOOOOOOOM!**

Raven again stood before the Beast, the tips of her fingers pointed towards her temples. Her eyes were closed, but her mouth was agape, heaving and panting from the effort it took to withstand the terrible attack. Her wall of dark, translucent energy stood firm, curved in a semi-circle around her and her larger friend. Raven watched as the shield rippled and swayed, but remained implanted in the ice, reminding her of the impressive battlements of Troy.

'_Probably a bad analogy to use.' _Raven thought to herself, looking through her shield at her surrounding aggressors some thirty yards off.

They stood together, bent on their knees, facing the shield. They formed a very impressive cul-de-sac around her wall, curved like the ocean around a peninsula. The drones, though kneeling, formed a coast, as it were, of over one-hundred soldiers, shoulder to shoulder. Behind them, standing equally close together but in greater numbers, were more enemies, standing upright, holding their weapons between the heads of their kneeling comrades. There were more soldiers further back, some of whom were standing upon the sides and platforms of no less then twenty armored assault vehicles. These platforms carried large amounts of armed personnel as well; nearly ten per vehicle. The large, heavy cannons of the assault-craft were lowered at Raven's energy-barrier, the tips of which twitched and hummed with primed, crimson energy.

Raven and the Beast were, essentially, looking down the barrels of nearly five-hundred loaded guns.

"_How the blazes did they sneak up on us like that?_" The Beast asked angrily, flanking Raven on her right.

"Interesting. I guess even the most primitive of minds can master speech." came the voice from before. The two titans behind the shield looked up.

He hovered upon a disk of silver metal, bobbing up and down in the air like a buoy at sea. His arms were folded behind his back, and his head leaned forward slightly. The dim glow from the roof of the chamber outlined his grim appearance vividly, but not so brightly that it hid the powerful glow of his one visible eye. The eyes of the slight, child-like figure that floated in mid-air beside him were significantly more piercing, as were the other pairs of fiery red glares belonging to five snickering cohorts in orbit around this duo.

"_Ha! The pansy decided to show up._" The Beast rumbled, balancing his weight upon his knuckles as he glared at SLADE and his entourage. "_And about time, too. I thought I would be old and gray by the time SLADE decided to crawl out from under his rock._"

"Watch your tongue, monster," Requiem warned softly, hovering beside Control Freak, Atlas, Brother Blood, Dr. Light and Dr. Chang, "or I'll pluck it from your jaw and feed it to you."

"_Enough, _Requiem," SLADE said, turning to face her, "there's no point in trying to communicate with the condemned, even if they persist in mouthing off to the living."

Raven knew a threat when she heard one, and wasn't taking too kindly to it. It had been nearly five days since she had eaten, slept, or successfully meditated. The exhaustion and constant state of peril were wearing thin on her already tired mind.

"Azarath, Metrion, _ZINTHOS_!"

A large bulge of energy pushed out from Raven's shield, shooting skyward as a spear of directed force. It screamed through the air faster than any of the drones could react, directly at the floating psychopath.

_**Sha-**_**CLANG!**

The sound resembled a bullet ricochet, and had vaguely the same effect. Raven watched as her attack reflected off of a large, crystal clear dome of energy that surrounded all the floating villains, to soar harmlessly to one side and out of sight.

"That's not possible, it was point-blank range!" Raven said with alarm, maintaining her shield.

Dr. Light, floating near the edge of the small troop of fiends, narrowed his crimson gaze, and shook his finger back and forth in a 'tisk-tisk' fashion, smiling like a jester. "Oh, come now, Raven. My photo-force fields are far too dense to be punctured by such a childish expulsion of power. I'm almost embarrassed that the automated sensor array deployed the field when you attempted to strike. Master SLADE could have batted your discharge away with the back of his hand."

"Indeed. But since it is your task to provide my army and I with superior defensive technology, you should consider yourself fortunate that the field did deploy as programmed," SLADE said, his voice laced with warning, "since it would be equally as simplistic for me to end _your_ existence, should your usefulness prove to be lacking."

Dr. Light smiled nervously, and bowed in submission. "Yes, my lord."

To her surprise and disgust, SLADE addressed Raven directly. He leaned forward almost leisurely, and looked Raven in the eye through her large barrier.

"You must be tired, Raven. I can both see, and sense, your exhaustion. It seems to be surrounding your body like a poisonous vapor, constricting the life out of you. It must be painful." SLADE said, soft and patronizing.

"I'll show you just how much fight I have left in me," Raven responded, adding a little warning of her own, "but if you think I'm bluffing, why not take me on yourself? Find out if I'm really as toothless as you claim. I can promise you that BeastBoy certainly isn't!"

Although the Beast didn't necessarily like the idea of being referred to as that green teenager, he was still psyched by Raven's challenge. He grinned with approval. "_The girl has a point. Why not try to take us, one on one? I'll even keep one hand behind my back._"

**T-**_**FOOOSH!**_

He was gone!

SLADE had vanished before their eyes, as had his female minion. They seemed to have evaporated in a tenth of a second, leaving a hole in the air between SLADE's other assistants. Raven would have missed the whole thing if she had blinked even once.

It was there again; that prickling sensation. Raven saw the Beast spin on his heals, facing the opposite direction, his eyes shining white as he bared his fangs. Raven turned as well, keeping her concentration steady on the shield as she did, focusing on a shocking sight.

"As you can see, Raven," SLADE said, hovering comfortably within Raven's barrier, Requiem at his side, "I am able to circumvent your defenses at will. It is no longer a question of whether or not I can defeat you. The only question is 'how painful must your defeat _be_?'"

Raven felt a tremor of doubt. SLADE had overtaken her wall without her even sensing his movements. Surely Requiem had assisted in some way, but given the walls density and circumference, Raven could only estimate how fast SLADE had been traveling; _too _fast.

In spite of her apprehension, Raven felt a certain degree of security in the presence of BeastBoy's most combative persona, even if it was a very small degree. She watched as the Beast blustered and snarled deeply, his talons raked forward in a gesture of challenge. He looked and felt ready for a fight. The grimace upon his face and the tone of his voice was murderous.

"_Threaten us all you want, jerk-off! Fancy tricks won't end our lives, or save yours!_" The Beast barked.

Raven was ready for almost anything, excluding what SLADE did next. With Requiem at his side, SLADE reached, very slowly, into his utility belt. As Raven and the Beast braced themselves, they felt more than their fair share of confusion as they watched SLADE removed a few small pellets from a small pocket on his hip.

He seemed to be holding them out to the two titans, as if he were offering them candy.

"What are those?" Raven asked warily.

"Your last option." SLADE said quietly, holding the pellets out further.

"_Looks more like rat-droppings._" The Beast commented.

Raven kept her wall stable as she asked a question she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to. "What's in this 'last option'?"

"A potent but fast-acting concoction of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride, compressed into a pill form. There is little or no pain—much to my displeasure—but the effect is the same." SLADE said, stating each chemical compound carefully.

If it wasn't seriously out-of-character for her, Raven would have laughed aloud. "A death-penalty lethal injection? As in suicide pills?"

"_You can't be serious._" The Beast smiled, catching Raven's drift. "_How stupid do we look?_"

"I advise you to consider the alternative," SLADE said, looking to left, "and to consider your friends as well."

Raven caught a glimpse of her friends far in the distance, nearly four hundred yards away. They, too, were caught in a circle of slowly encroaching drones. Her three fellow Titans were back to back to back, forming a powerful triangle of defense. But they were still outnumbered and out-gunned by nearly two-hundred to one. From what she could see, Starfire was practically nude from her torn and damaged clothing, doing her best to muster enough power to be considered a threat. Cyborg had both of his cannons deployed, but the look on his face suggested that he was on his last leg as well. Robin had only half of his bow-staff remaining, and though he brandished it with firm resolve, the lacerations upon his chest looked serious. Raven realized that one or more of his ribs were broken, making it painful for him to breath; his injuries were bright red beneath his shredded garments.

They weren't going to last much longer.

"Your choice is this:" SLADE began again, "take the pills, and die here, slowly but relatively painlessly, and no more suffering will come to you. I will give your friends the same option, since they, too, should recognize the futility of their pursuits. Having fought bravely in life, they should realize it would be better to die peacefully. As much as I would enjoy the tactile sensation of squeezing the life out of each and every one of you, I realize that my talents are better utilized elsewhere. These pills allow me to accomplish my goals and seal the fate of your friends. Their pain, at the very least, would cease…as would your own."

Raven stared blankly, unsure of how to respond. She looked to the Beast beside her, but could only see the same amount of anxiety and skepticism. She couldn't communicate directly to him, and even if she could, what would she say?

"Consider this, Titans," SLADE said impatiently, addressing both teens, "should you refuse my offer, I will use more direct means. When I give the order, every drone on the other side of your shield will open fire. Not only will you have to withstand the full assault of my advanced infantry, but you will have to deflect over one-million tons of artillery and concussive force. Your shield will be crushed, and your bodies will be torn asunder by flame and steel. The sheer volume of heat expelled by my army's assault will vaporize your flesh. There won't be any trace of you left to stain the ice."

'_I'll bet he thinks he's being generous.' _Raven thought bitterly.

"It's true, Titan pests!" Dr, Chang chimed in, hovering a little closer to the shield event-horizon. "My newly developed Xinothium Devastator canons are in position and loaded with an extra potent series of explosive rounds. The combined heat of such an attack, at its apex, will be ten times hotter than the radioactive fallout of the Chernobyl Disaster! HA!"

"So there you have it; two choices, one outcome. Either take my tremendously generous offer of a relatively quick and painless death, or stand your ground and be forcefully erased from the face of this earth." SLADE finished, moving forward slightly on his hovering discus. "Either way, the one thing you can be certain of, is that you…the _five_ of you…will die, here, today. There is no avoiding it. In point of fact, I'm exceedingly tired of watching your small group wreak havoc upon my army. Though their numbers can easily be replenished, I am a very busy man, and face the daunting task of conquering the known world. This frivolous attempt to deplete my ranks will end now. More specifically, _you _will end now."

During SLADE's little speech, Raven never took her eyes off of her friends; they were so close, and yet, they were beyond any chance Raven had of reaching them. Even if she had the energy to expand her defenses around her friends, she wouldn't have been able to maintain it for long. The coming avalanche of raw power would make short work of a shield too thinly spread over too great a distance. It just wasn't possible.

"Your answer, and decision, Titans," SLADE said clearly, extending his filled palm further, "_now._"

As Raven opened her mouth, still unsure of what to say, she suddenly noticed how quickly and violently the Beast, standing at her side, suddenly grasped his own throat with both of his hands, his body convulsing and reeling from some hidden pain in his throat.

It looked as if he were choking. "_HACK! COUGH! HOCK-HOCK!"_

Requiem looked puzzled, the device on her hand glowing as it attempted to repair her soft-tissue injuries. "What's wrong with him?"

Raven didn't have the faintest clue either. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn that he had swallowed a car tire and accidentally lodged it in his throat, cutting off his air supply. The Beast made a horrible ruckus, grasping at his mouth and neck, seemingly attempting to will or claw the foreign object from his body. Every time he bent forward, he inched closer to where SLADE floated some fifteen feet ahead.

"This is a poor attempt at stalling the inevitable." SLADE said, assuming a peevish stance. "Give me your answer and be done with it; I have more important things to attend to."

Just as the Beast reach a distance of about seven or eight feet from where SLADE and Requiem waited and watched, Raven saw the Beast pull back, stand at his full height with his clawed hands about his throat…

…and smile.

"_KA-HOCK! _P-_TOOEY!_"

SPLAT!

For at least three seconds, Raven felt her shield begin to seriously destabilize. It was not because she was abhorred at what she saw; far from it. For a few seconds, Raven almost laughed herself silly. Since she couldn't actually laugh, a weird, squirmy smile appeared on her face, and her cheeks turned red from embarrassment as she tried to reassert her power; it had been _that _funny.

A gob of snot and spit, the size of Raven's fist, had hit SLADE square in the face. The Beast had spat in the face of the devil, and was now watching as the ball slowly slid down SLADE's mask. During the entire thirty seconds afterward, SLADE kept his head turned and his eye closed, reveling in the ghastly treatment he had just received.

Requiem, unfamiliar with this particular custom of disrespect, only stared at her master in wonder. She honestly had no idea of how to react.

"_I think that about sums up how we feel about your 'tremendously generous offer'._" The Beast said snidely, wiping the excess from around his jowls. "_Any questions?_"

_**FFFFWWWOOOOOOOMM!**_

As soon as Requiem witnessed her master's reaction to what the Beast had done, she understood exactly how he felt; as did everyone else within that chamber.

SLADE appeared to be enveloped in a cold, orange glow. It danced and hissed in an almost festive manor about his solid frame, coming to a fiery point above his head, swirling about his legs and melting the ice several feet beneath his floating body. Though comparatively diminutive to the hybrid he had created, whatever power SLADE still retained from his encounter with Trigon was still substantial enough to get his point across.

As he turned his head to face the two teens, Raven watched as the gob on his mask sizzled and popped like oil on a skillet. A second later, the sizeable wad had evaporated into the air. A few seconds after that, Raven saw the pills in SLADE's still outstretched palm begin to ignite, and finally vanish, incinerated by the burning energy that surrounded him.

Raven held her breath. The Beast, with all his bravado, appeared to tremor at the sight.

**T-**_**FOOOSH!**_

Raven, having fully reconstituted her shield and agreed, without saying anything, with what the Beast had insinuated, turned as SLADE and Requiem once again vanished from sight, only to reappear on the other side of the energy wall. The look on the faces of all his minions demonstrated both their fear and reverence for the still blazing image of their master, fuming and vibrating with power and unspoken rage.

Every Atlas drone on the ice looked at their leader, their eyes emotionless and unblinking.

Raven braced herself.

The Beast bristled.

SLADE clenched his fist.

"Wipe…them…_**out**_."

"A-_TTAAAAAAAACK_!"

Raven managed a short breath, focused her energy, and dug in her heals. She could do no more.

**HHHHUUURRR-**_**TSEEEEEEEW!**_

The sound of nearly ½ a thousand weapons discharging was deafening. Raven would have covered her ears, but to do so, she would have lost concentration, and both she and the Beast would have been vaporized in an instant.

_**CROOMCROOM!**_

_**WHAM! **_**BOOOOOOM!**

_**Ra-**_**TATATATATATATAT!**

Raven felt as though she were being lashed by a thousand bullwhips. Every impact bit her arms, legs and chest with needle-sharp teeth. Her muscles, fatigued and ragged to begin with, were being ripped from her skeleton one cell at a time (at least, that's how it felt). Her eyes remained squinted to prevent blindness in the dazzling light. She felt like she had roughly a week ago when the wave threatened Jump City, except in this instance, she held back not an ocean of water, but an ocean of hellfire.

"Azarath, Metrion…_**ZINTHOS**_!"

Raven conjured as much energy as she could, throwing her reserves into the fray. The wall broadened and thickened, but only slightly, covering both titans in a large hemisphere of protective energy. The edge of the barrier sunk into the icy floor, but the sheer number of impacts were like waves upon a rocky shore; eventually, something would have to give.

"Zinthos! _Zinthos!_" Raven yelled, draining her body of whatever was left, tapping into her life-source energy for more power. It felt as if her blood were being pumped from her heart into this wall.

'_I…can't keep this up! I can feel my psychic connections beginning to crumble!' _Raven thought, gritting her teeth. The wound upon her head began to bleed freely again, the salty liquid stinging her eyes. Any thought of a counterattack seemed impossible; everything she had was in that wall.

Raven looked to her right, watching the Beast as he slowly retreated with the shield. He could not join the fight, nor could he breech the wall in order to attack the drones directly. He was trapped.

'_Not completely trapped.' _Raven realized.

"Beast!" she yelled, shuddering from the effort of screaming over the melee, "BeastBoy!"

The Beast turned, eyeing her with a mix of confusion and fear.

"Get _out _of here!" Raven yelled, shaking her head to dislodge the blood in her face. "Take the back way out of the shield! Help the others!"

The Beast looked unsure, bewildered. He didn't understand—or couldn't believe—what was being asked of him.

"You heard me! I'll hold them off! Help our friends! There's nothing you can do here!" Raven yelled again.

Still no movement. The large creature hesitated. Raven felt like she was on the brink of collapse, both from exhaustion and disbelief.

"For once in your life, _listen to me!_ GET OUT OF HERE!"

And then, he was gone.

At first, Raven couldn't believe it. He sped off behind her, running at flank speed, and disappeared from her line of sight. She was alone, her only defense fading like the evening dusk in front of her, facing down an armada of blood-thirsty drones.

She was on her own.

Raven allowed herself a small, rueful smile. _'I guess I'm glad,' _she thought, staring down the onslaught of metal and flame, _'At least now he'll be able to-"_

_**HUURRRRRR-**_**RRRRROOOAARRR!**

The sudden, ice-shattering roar spooked Raven from her revere. She turned just in time to see a massive blur as it loped across the ground on all fours towards her, raised its massive arms to its' sides, and slam into the curved inside of her shield like a giant linebacker.

_**Ker-**_**POOOOOWWWW!**

The slow but constant retreat of the shield stopped in mid recession. Raven felt a great deal of pressure ease from her arms and legs, like a car recovering from the inertia of slammed brakes. She stood up straight, and actually had enough psychic leverage to use one of her hands to wipe the blood from her brow, clearing her vision.

She brushed them clean twice, three times, but she still beheld the same unbelievable sight.

He was pushing! The Beast had his massive hands placed up against Raven's wall, digging his black claws into the psychically manifested material. His shoulders strained under the weight of each individual impact, his arms ridged and flexed. The combined attack of all the drones sent ripples of energy through the fur on his neck and forearms, like small waves upon a sea of green. The Beast's back bent forward sharply, throwing his considerable weight into holding back the blitzkrieg of explosions.

Raven felt both relieved and ticked at the same time, an emotional-combination she couldn't name and certainly wasn't used to dealing with. "I thought I told you to help the others! You need to get out of here or we'll _both_ be crushed!"

The Beast's only response was to turn and stare at her, briefly, with bright, determined eyes. To Raven's astonishment, she witnessed the beginnings of a grin on that huge mug, covered in red light. It displayed a single fang, jutting boyishly up from his lower jaw.

It wasn't Garfield's childish smile. It wasn't the Beast's cocky leer. It was the combination of the two, one that had greeted Raven each day since she first arrived in Jump City.

BeastBoy; the one and only.

With that, he turned, faced the berserk scene beyond the shield he supported, and gouged ten very deep claw-grooves into the ice beneath him with his feet. With a flex of his strong legs, BeastBoy yet again pushed against the wall of energy, and held his ground.

"_BRING IT ON!_" he bellowed, igniting a very faint flicker of hope in Raven's heart. It was just enough for Raven to close her mouth and shake her head.

'_He never listens.' _She thought, digging deep into her subconscious, and throwing a whole new wave of power into the fray.

"Azarath, Metrion…_**ZINTHOS**_"

For nearly fifteen minutes, the bombardment persisted. The barrels of the various weapons deployed by SLADE's army were white hot, some needing to fall back for repair or recharging. But for every drone that left the front lines, another three took its place. The space between the soldiers and the shield surface crackled and sparked with ozone, the air as hot and un-breathable as the surface of Venus. A small moat of melted ice had formed around the wall, but the water looked polluted and black, speckled with bits of ash and thousands of shell-casings. Neither side was loosing or gaining any ground, and even then, there wasn't much ground left to fight over.

The fatigue in BeastBoy's body was palpable. Standing was a chore, and BeastBoy could feel his joints ache and scream. Raven, to her own amazement, remained conscious, but couldn't stand up straight anymore than she could throw a solid punch at the moment. The wounds upon her head and shoulders bled freely now, staining her pale skin as much as her leotard. She staggered on both knee's and one hand, breathing hard, trying to make the swirling, blurry objects in front of her face come into focus.

To her left, she was relieved to see the other three Titan's holding their own. Robin and Cyborg seemed to have erected a wall of their own, only this one created out of destroyed Atlas drones. It allowed them some reprieve, but not much of one. Raven knew that Cyborg and Starfire would be able to deliver many continuous offensive attacks, but Robin was running on empty. He had resorted to firing a discarded arm-blaster from one of the destroyed drones, firing off as many rounds as possible before discarding it and finding another weapon. The teenager never quit.

'_Quit'. _Raven thought softly, her eyelids heavy. _'What an excellent idea…'_

"_Snap out of it, Raven!"_ BeastBoy roared, punching the shield to jog both her mind and body. "_You kicked my brain into gear, and now I have to repay the favor. Wake UP!"_

Raven shook her head, and redoubled her efforts. The tension on both her psychological and physical mind was reaching its breaking point. She knew that her body would fail next, and with that, she would cease to exist.

"We need a plan!" Raven croaked, trying to communicate with her already thrashed voice. "Something to throw these guys off, maybe divert their attention so that we can make a break for the others!"

"_RRRRRRAAARGH! I'm all ears!"_ BeastBoy said, clenching his bleeding jaw under the constant pressure.

"No," came a voice, "you're all _dead._"

_**CRRRRRRRRRRRR-**_**AAAACK!**

Raven felt the blood drain from her face and chest, her mouth slightly agape in horror. It had happened in an instant, but an instant that started far too abruptly and pulled itself out over what felt like days. Her eyes didn't know what hit them.

Requiem had her hand upon BeastBoy's lower back, having appeared out of nowhere within the shield. Her dainty fingers grasped the bulge where his back-bone met his hips, just above the tail. The cracking sound had come from a clean severe of the spinal-chord itself, having been twisted sharply to the right like a boney dial upon a speaker-system.

"_B…Beast…BeastBoy…?_" Raven stuttered, her arm reaching for her friend, her face contorted in disbelief as she watched him fall backwards. His legs had ceased to function; instant paralysis.

In a nanosecond, Requiem was beside Raven, bending over so that her silk-soft hair almost touched the matted, bloodied ruff that was Ravens'. She leaned close, and whispered, like the snake into the ear of Eve.

"My master sends his warmest regards to Trigon." Requiem murmured sweetly to Raven, her lips less than an inch away. "Be sure to convey them when you meet your father. I suspect you will see him soon."

_**SNAP!**_

At the very least, it had been painless. Raven felt a brief twitch as her vocal chords were crushed, but other than that, there was no pain. The vertebrae had snapped cleanly, and the numbness that ensued cut off all the pain she felt in the rest of her body. As she fell to the ice—too slowly, it seemed, to be real—Raven could see her shield flicker away like birthday candle as it was blown out. For the first time in what felt like forever, the firing ceased, and the world quieted.

Raven thought it strange that her friends, from so far away, seemed to be screaming, even though she could hear not a sound. It was also odd that Requiem seemed to be pulling a large amount of energy into her undamaged hand. After all, what more could be done? Raven knew, somewhere in the back of her quieted mind, that she was dieing, and that any further violation of her body was superfluous. But she witnessed what was happening all too soon.

The energy must have been significant, because it lit up the air for one brief flash, and then rocket up into the cavern above. Raven's eyes didn't even dilate in the harsh glow. They couldn't have, just as her ears were incapable of hearing the explosion that gently rocked the ground beneath her. Her eye's barely made out the large section of the chamber's dome-ceiling as it dislodged from the ice around it, and began to fall.

Although lying on her back at an odd angle, Raven could still see the Beast—BeastBoy—as he tried to reach her. She would have smiled for his effort if that were possible; BeastBoy so coveted the chance to make her smile. If she could have given him one as he clawed his broken body across the ice toward her, she would have. He had earned at least one; one gentle, honest smile, all for him.

Sleep was coming, she knew that. Without the connection between her body and brain, she couldn't control her breathing, or keep her heart beating. The steady, fading metronome was all she could make out now, as the last, futile impulses tried to keep that one important muscle from silencing.

'_Such peace', _Raven thought, her iris's widening of their own accord, _'I'm surprised it's so quiet. Everything before now was so loud…hot…dangerous. But now…I wish…'_

Some time between this thought and one she couldn't recognize, Raven's mind lost all connection to reality. Her last images were that of Requiem, slowly waving goodbye, and of BeastBoy, his great, hulking arms gently cradling her against his tear-stained face, just as a seventy-ton slab of ice pulverized their frail bodies into nothingness.

SLADE provided the brief, subtle eulogy.

"And then there were _three_..."


	22. Ascension: Part 1

My apologies, I know this has taken a very long time to submit. But the end is close, and not as bleak as it may appear. As always, I own nothing but this story. Teen Titans is the property of Cartoon Network, DC Comics and Kids WB.

**Chap. 22: Ascension**

"Cannon-ball!"

The silhouette of a small, green teenager descended towards the crystal clear waters of Jump City Bay. The young masked man standing beneath the silhouette had very little time to react.

"BeastBoy, no! Stop! What're you-?" But it was too late.

**PLOOSH! **

Robin lowered his raised arms as a tiny, barely visible wave rippled over his chest. The 'cannon-ball' was less explosive than he had anticipated. The boy wonder smirked at the now drenched shape-shifter, his soaked hair covering his eyes.

"Ha! You call that a cannon-ball? Trout make a bigger splash than that!" He chided his companion.

BeastBoy gritted his teeth as he wiped his hair out of his face. "Oh, be quiet."

A thunderous yell came from the shore. "WEAK! That was _so _WEAK!"

BB turned to glare at his half metallic teammate on the bank of Titans Island. "Oh yeah, Cyborg? I'd like to see you do better!"

The bionic bruiser tilted his head, reflecting the glaring sun off of his alloyed forehead, and smiled. "Alright, I will."

With that, Cyborg charged the waves, the vibrations from his footsteps shaking the bedrock beneath the water, and Robin and BeastBoys feet. Both teens struggled to run away from the blast radius.

Robin turned back just in time to see Cyborg propel himself nearly twenty feet into the air with his powerful hydraulically-enhanced legs.

"Look out below!" Cyborg shouted in glee, just before his 400 plus pounds struck the water.

Some distance away, floating upon an inflatable lounge raft, a certain orange haired princess was attempting to sun herself in the constant, unrelenting rays of the afternoon sun. Although the heat was intense, the sun was a primary source of her power, and she was enjoying herself immensely. She had been dieing to try on her new purple polka-dot bikini anyway. The afternoon was going perfectly so far.

That is, until a sizable six foot wave, and one screaming Robin, interrupted her sun-bathing.

"Starfire! Look out!" Robin said, in midair.

Starfire managed to get out one surprised 'EEP!' her eyes the size of Frisbee's, before her team leader dropped upon her, along with a few hundred gallons of water.

Starfire resurfaced, spitting seawater from her mouth, with a very puzzled expression on her face. She swam quickly over to the free floating form of Robin some feet away.

"Robin! Why did you cause the sea to throw you? Have you angered it in some way? What happened?" Starfire asked the very still Robin.

"I didn't, I haven't, and it was (Cough)…Cyborg."

BeastBoy was already giving said Cyborg a piece of his mind. "Are you nuts!? You nearly sent me into orbit! That was _**so**_ uncalled for!"

"Hey! You sent the challenge, little man! I just answered it." Cyborg said, smiling victoriously.

"I am confused." Starfire said, wringing the saltwater out of her hair. "The point of this activity is to see who can drown their companions first?"

"Uh…actually Starfire, the idea is to see who can make the biggest splash." Robin corrected, shaking the miscellaneous ocean debris from his hair.

"And I just SCHOOLED your butt in cannon-balls!" Cyborg cheered, mocking BeastBoy.

"OH! So, whoever creates the largest swell of ocean liquid by falling into the bay, is the winner?" Starfire asked excitedly, clasping her hands.

"Pretty Much." Robin said, smiling.

"Very well. Please, wait here!" Starfire said. With that, the Tamaranian princess levitated her drenched body out of the bay, into the air, and away into the afternoon sky.

"Hey, where'd Star go?" Cyborg asked.

Robin and BeastBoy looked into the cloudless horizon, but could not see any sign of Starfire, nor could they discern what she was up to.

A few puzzling seconds later, BB's ears perked up, as a low whistling sound could be heard, falling from above. Robin and Cyborg caught it a moment later, and looked towards the sounds direction.

The next thing the boys knew, the solar powerhouse known as Starfire came into view, making a nose dive for the glassy surface of the bay.

"WHEEEEEEE!" came her excited laughter, her face full of ecstatic glee.

"Uh-oh..." Said the three Titans. They didn't have time to say anything else, before Starfire struck the water.

A little over a hundred yards away, and about forty feet in the air, hovered the cloaked figure of Raven. As was her nature, she kept out of the direct sunlight, floating in the large shadow created by the massive Titans Tower. Her hood was up, shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun. But she could still see her friends some distance away. Although she did glance at them every so often, her mind and body were centered, and her mantra kept her concentration steady.

Be that as it may, distractions were still abundant. Such as the sizable wave that was now headed in her general direction, along with the lime green surfer caught in its crest.

"Raven! Look Out! Commin' through!" BeastBoy yelled, flailing his arms.

Ravens eyes went wide for a second, before she pushed herself higher into the air. The wave, and BeastBoy, passed beneath her. She watched her teammate be enveloped in the wall of water, before it met the wall of the tower with a loud _**WUMPF! **_

The wave continued over the rocky island surrounding the tower, eventually breaking as it met the water once more on the other side of the tower. The Titans home took the brunt of the man-made tsunami.

BeastBoy withstood a good deal of it as well. He was plastered against the steel of the tower, like a bug on a windshield. "Oi…anybody get the number of that bus?"

Raven gently fell towards her teammate, and grabbed him by the back of his head. She peeled him off of the baking steel, and set him on the rocky shore of the island. Apart from a flattened nose, he appeared to be okay.

"Aren't you supposed to say 'Surfs-up'?" Raven asked, her sarcasm punctuated by a raised eyebrow.

"He did," Cyborg said from behind them, as he reattached his hand component "But it came out as more of a 'WAHHHHH!'"

Raven glanced at Cy. He was limping around on one leg, trying to relocate several of his parts. His left arm was missing a shoulder plate, and his hip was missing a connector joint. His ride on Starfires wave must have been rough too.

Speaking of whom, the red-haired alien beauty was standing in a small fissure in the ocean bedrock created by her cannon-ball. Robin was lying flat against the shore, but tilted his head up enough to look at the smiling young woman.

"I believe I win." Starfire said, her smile as wide as the horizon.

Despite the pain he was in, Robin couldn't help but smile. Starfire glowed when she was happy, and her smile always left him speechless. She found great happiness in the smallest activities, and her slight naivety just made her more adorable.

Robin sat up and stretched his sore limbs. He caught a glimpse of Starfire zipping across the water towards him, her face now crossed with concern. "Robin! You are…undamaged?"

"Yea, Star, I'm fine. But you're supposed to yell 'Cannon-ball' when you dive in." Robin said with a smile.

"Ah! I see. My apologies. Shall I attempt the ball of cannon once more?"

"NO!" came the resounding reply from all three male teens. If it were possible, BeastBoy became pale at mention of another wild ride on the Starfire Special.

Raven allowed herself a small smile when she saw the terror-stricken look on BeastBoys face. Her hood kept her countenance hidden, and she let her gaze linger for a moment. For all his faults, and for his even more frequent blunders, BeastBoy remained a good friend and an important member of the team.

'_He's important in other ways too…' _Her subconscious chided.

'_What is THAT supposed to mean?' _She asked the cryptic voice in her head. But she heard no response.

This had been happening for a while now. Often, as Raven meditated, she would find herself distracted, in one way or another, by the shape shifting elf. The most recent incident revolved around silky, tofu pancakes, a malfunction with the egg beater, and Ravens leotard. Just the memory made her shiver with disgust. She would never look at the stove the same way ever again.

Just after it happened, and after BeastBoys attempted apology, her mind began to feed her faint, somewhat awkward messages of admiration. Admiration, in one way or another, for BeastBoy.

At least, that's what she THOUGHT they were. She would have to meditate later to determine what her mind was trying to tell her.

She spoke to BB as he straightened himself out. "Are you OK?"

"That is probably the fastest and most painful way to loose weight ever created." BeastBoy said, flashing his famous smile. "But yeah, still breathing."

"At least you had a chance to cool off." Raven said, indicating how hot the day was.

"No kidding. It must be a hundred and five out here." BeastBoy said, brushing the sweat from his green brow. "Aren't you _baking_ in that thing?"

Raven shook her solemn head. "Things like extreme heat and adverse weather can be focused upon, controlled, and ignored. I am comfortable."

"If you say so. But why not swim with us? Hmm? The water is cool, the breeze is warm, and the sun could fry me into a crispy asparagus sick. Why not put on a suit and jump in?" BB asked, his smile anxious and cheerful.

"I am NOT going swimming." Raven said sternly.

"You don't have to change. Your leotard would be plenty to keep you covered." BB encouraged.

"I am NOT swimming today BeastBoy." Raven said, her irritation rising with her as she levitated into the air.

BB put his fists on his hips, his own frustration with Raven increasing as well. "Well, if not today, then when?"

Wanting to end this, Raven said the first thing that came to mind. "When the sun falls from the sky."

BeastBoy's ears drooped to the sides of head, and he turned away from Raven. He had only walked two feet, when he came upon Cyborg, with a perplexed look upon his face.

"You might want to rethink that statement, Raven." Cy said, his eyes wide with intrigue and concern.

"Why?" BeastBoy and Raven asked simultaneously, turning to Cyborg. But their teammate was looking beyond his companions, his gaze fixed on something above and behind them.

Both titans looked in the direction that Cy was, and saw what his eyes were fixed upon. Robin and Starfire, several yards away, turned their attention away from each other, and towards the sky.

The glare was surprisingly powerful. For a few seconds, at least, it seemed as if the sun, or some other vibrantly bright object, were falling towards the earth. The angle of the approaching object shifted slightly; just long enough for the Titan's to make out what it was.

Raven reached behind her and produced a Teen Titan's communicator, and started tuning it to the desired frequencies. "Cyborg, could you give me a hand?"

Cyborg took the device, thumbed the controls a bit, and started speaking into the receiver. "Titan's Tower to pilot, Titan's Tower to pilot, come in pilot, over."

The 747 above them, the wings wide and the engines roaring, seemed to stall slightly in mid-air. A few seconds after an odd cough came from one of the engines, Cyborg finally received a response, crackly and chock-full of static. "…this is…delta one-nine…engine…-urn out! Requesting…at…clear all non-…I repeat, clear all non-essen-…-unway! Emergency lan-…!"

"What's happening up there, Cy?" Robin asked, slipping his uniform on over his trunks.

"I can see it," Raven said, her eyes closed in concentration, "there's something wrong with one of the intake-manifolds on the far starboard engine, and it's affecting the electronic fuel regulators the other three. The plane can't stay level. I…I think their going to try to land at J.C. Airport, but at their angle and velocity, it will be nearly impossible to land safely."

"How long till it lands?" Robin asked.

"Eight, maybe nine minutes," Cyborg estimated as he scanned the sky, "but with that mean cross wind they could loose altitude way faster. They don't have much time."

"There is a festival today, in the downtown area of the city!" Starfire said, wringing the water out of her hair. "The casualties will be significant if the plane is forced to land on one of the major streets!"

Robin held his chin, seemingly intent on finding a solution. Various possible scenarios played out in his head, all of which seemed fool-hardy. But he didn't have a whole lot of prep time, either.

"BeastBoy, Starfire: see what you can do about leveling the plane out." Robin started, coming up with the best idea he could at the moment. "Raven, I want you to try and get as many passengers off the plane before it's forced to land. Cyborg and I will do what we can in the cockpit, and send the pilots your way."

"So much for 'fun in the sun'." BeastBoy sighed.

"Think of it as a way to keep from getting rusty," Robin said, "and it's bound to be cooler up there anyway. Questions?"

There were none.

"Good. Stay safe. Titan's: GO!"

The Titan's lifted off, Raven carrying Cyborg upon a platform of energy, while Starfire gave Robin a lift. BeastBoy took off as a flacon, making a bee-line for the plane that was slowly becoming bigger and bigger in the afternoon sky.

Indeed, it was cooler the higher the five teens flew. BeastBoy felt his core temperature drop as he climbed higher into the atmosphere, watching the ocean below get larger and bluer. The only thing that obscured his view was the increasingly large shadow of the lopsided airplane above him.

"I shall attempt to stabilize the left side! You try for the right!" Starfire said, veering to port as BB leaned starboard.

BeastBoy approached the dipping right wing of the plane, the roar of the nearby engines playing havoc with his sharp bird hearing. He immediately assumed the form of a Pterodactyl, and dived towards the tip of the wing. Out of his left eye, BB could see Starfire make her way to the other wing, pitched high into the air, the sun outlining her soaring body. He could also make out the faces of many frightened people in the windows of the starboard side of the plane, screaming and crying for fear of a devastating crash.

As soon as Starfire signaled BeastBoy, the shape shifter dug his clawed toes into the aluminum skin of the plane, and flared his twenty-foot wingspan as far as he could stretch it.

_**FWOOOMPFF!**_

The strain on his wings and toes was tremendous. He cawed with frustration, doing his best to maintain his grip. A second later, he felt a great deal of the updraft lesson, and watched as Starfire used her impressive strength to push upon the opposite wing, forcing the massive aircraft to level off in the buffering winds.

"Now, Raven!" Starfire yelled, watching as her friend hugged the right side of the plane near the exit hatch.

"Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"

The hatch immediately popped open, giving Raven enough time to toss Cyborg up to the top of the plane, and create a large, open walkway for the now whistling doorway.

"Everyone out! Get onto the platform and fill in the bubble! Now!" Robin yelled, his feet magnetically attached to the planes wing, as were Cyborgs.

As Robin and Cyborg made their way forward, the people of the plane began running aft, filling the large bubble of psycho-physical energy created by Raven. The two-hundred people toppled over each other, trying to get off of the flying death-trap as fast as they could. Raven extended the bubble as needed, her cape billowing in the intense draft, her eyes barely open from the constant whip of the cold wind.

"That's the last of them!" yelled a stewardess. "But the pilot is still aboard!"

As soon as he heard this, BeastBoy's already tentative grip on the wing of the plane came loose, along with a sizeable chunk of airframe. The plane whined and pitched to the left violently, just as Raven broke off from the now plummeting aircraft.

"I'll get them to safety! Help Cyborg and Robin!" Raven yelled to her friends, just as she and her bubble flew off and away from the plane.

BeastBoy dove toward the open hatch, grabbed it with his newly transformed Gorilla palm, and pulled himself inside, with Starfire on his heals. The two wrestled with the hatch door, straining under the intense wind pressure, until they finally pulled it shut. They collapsed upon the plush carpeting amidst a mess of food, wrappers, and garbage.

"I think I might have gotten _taller_." BeastBoy said, feeling how stretched his back had become.

"We will both be substantially flatter if we do not help the others. Come!" Starfire said, getting to her feet and running towards the front of the plane. BeastBoy followed a moment later.

"I told you already, I'm not leaving the plane!" came a yell from the main cockpit.

"Sir, I have to insist that you leave!" Robin said, as firmly and diplomatically as he could. BeastBoy and Starfire entered the large control room a second later.

Robin appeared to be arguing with a man in his early forties, his beard and hair red and long, covered in sweat. Around him, the various displays were beeping and sounding warning signals, making the cabin ring with noise. Cyborg, off to one side, was busy trying to hook himself into the main computer; nearly two dozen fiber-optic cables were plugged into various control panels and outlets. He looked like a blue fly caught in a big spider-web.

"I'd listen to him, man. There isn't much you can do right now." Cyborg said, encouraging the pilot further.

"A captain never abandons his plane!" The man argued.

"Sir, I'm telling you, we can handle this. It would be best if you let one of the Titan's get you off the plane and back with your crew!" Robin tried again, attempting to seize the controls from the man. "Besides, you're injured!"

It was true; the man had a severe electrical burn along the length of his right arm, shining bright red against his white dress shirt. He held it with his left hand, doing his best to stem the bleeding with material torn from the shirt itself, wrapped tightly around the wound.

"You're going to need me in order to land this thing!" The captain insisted, looking Robin in the eye. "I've flown these suckers for near on fifteen years, and all the autopilot control systems have been severed. If you got all the passengers off, it doesn't matter really HOW we land this thing, so much as WHERE. Since the big guy is hooked into the mainframe, he can't help you. And unless your two friends back there are experts in engineering and aeronautics, you're going to need someone to monitor the readings while you try to land this beast!"

Robin looked to Cyborg, who shrugged his big shoulders. "We've got zero rudder control and all the other stabilizers are sluggish. I'm working on re-writing the system protocols so that I can send more hydraulic fluid to the wings, but it's gonna take time. We'll be on the ground before I can take the stick!"

Robin scowled, and looked at BB and Star. "Strap yourselves in; this is gonna get hairy!"

Robin stepped into the co-pilot seat—the only seat with a functioning yolk—and took the controls. "OK captain, I'm all ears!"

"All…ears…" BeastBoy thought as he slowly buckled his seatbelt, his mind suddenly foggy. "Now where have I heard that before…?"

"The dial-assisted heading is screwed, so you're gonna have to pull the yolk until the indicator reads one-zero-five. That's a little south of due east, and should point us directly at J.C. Airport runway number three. It's been cleared for our landing." The pilot instructed, breathing deep as he tried to withstand the pain.

"Heading one-zero-five, got it!" Robin said, pulling on the yolk as hard as he could.

"Once you've got that, tell your friend to cut the fuel to the engines until we're traveling at two-hundred knots. No more and no less. If we have to crash this old girl, I'd like us to be going fast enough to be able to control our entry angle, but not so much that she goes off like a roman candle on impact. Got it?" the captain continued.

"…Impact…" BeastBoy thought aloud, screwing up his eyebrows as a perplexed look took over his face.

"We've got our heading. Did you hear him, Cy?" Robin asked over the loud beeps and honks.

"We're leaking fuel like a sieve! I can cut the fuel, but after that, we're only gonna have enough for one-seventy-five, one-eighty knots, tops!" Cyborg said, his body aglow with power and circulating information.

"That'll have to do. There's the runway!" The captain said.

Sure enough, all four Titan's could see the runway ahead. It spread out like a massive gray field, bathed in orange light. The dashed white lines down the middle were highlighted by the sun, as were the ten or so airport fire-suppression units on either side of the landing strip. Their lights were flashing brightly, and Starfire could almost hear the sirens outside the plane.

"I pray this works." She said, biting her lip.

"Now level the plane off as much as possible, and then pull like hell on the yolk until you've reached an entry angle of about sixty-five degree's. The control for the landing gear is on your left…the blue toggle." The captain instructed, tightening the piece of cloth on his arm.

Robin yanked on the yolk, doing his best to keep the wings from pitching and yawing. He thumbed the blue toggle, but nothing happened. "I've got no landing gear!"

"The release system is shot! I can't override!" Cyborg said.

"Red button! Above your head, behind the glass!" The captain gestured weakly. "Punch it!"

Robin crushed the glass and pressed the button with his fist as several more alarms went off. A harsh groaning sound could be heard from under the plane. The runway continued to get closer, now less than a kilometer beneath the aircraft.

"Emergency system deployed! Landing gear down!" Cyborg said.

"The angle is still sharp! We're comin' in _way_ too hot!" The captain said, squinting his eyes. "Prepare for emergency set-down! Brace yourselves!"

BeastBoy grabbed his seat, and saw Starfire do the same, just before the ground caught the gliding behemoth, crushing the landing gear like tooth-picks and compressing the undercarriage as easily as sponge beneath a house.

_**CRRRRRRRRRUUUUUNNCCCCCHHHH!**_

Sparks flew as instrumentation failed or short-circuited. Multiple fires broke out over the control-consoles, and BeastBoy found himself shaking like a leaf as the vibrations rocked the airframe viciously. Speaking became difficult, since the constant shuddering made it nearly impossible to complete a sentence.

"P-p-p-le-yee-yee-yee-yee-s-s-s k-ee-ee-ee-p y-y-y-or-or-or t-t-t-ray-ay-ay-ay tay-ay-ay-ay-b-b-b-le-s-s-s in th-th-air-air-air up-ri-ri-ri-ri-ght a-a-nd l-l-l-ah-ah-k-k-ed p-p-p-o-o-s-i-i-i-sh-sh-sh-un-s-s-s…" BeastBoy said, his jaws clicking wildly.

"K-k-k-a-a-a-an-an i-i-i-t B-b-b-e-ea-ea-s-s-s-t-B-b-o-o-o-y-yuh!" Cyborg said, his own jaw clacking like a set of castanets.

Robin pulled back on the throttle, disengaged the drive system, and threw the thrust compressor in reverse. The engines gave a sputtering roar as they began to pump thrust through the intake port of the engines, using all that was left of the fuel to slow the sliding vehicle.

"We're slowing!" The captain said, the vibrations beginning to subside, "Eighty knots and falling! One-Seventy! One-sixty!"

**RRRRRIIIPPP-**_**CLUNK!**_

Robin both heard and witnessed the far left engine as it ripped free from the wing under the pressure of its own thrust. It barely missed a following fire-truck as it attempted to catch up to the lifeless aircraft careening across the runway.

"Slag-it! The fuel supply is exhausted! We're riding on inertia now!" Cyborg said, disengaging himself from the plane's control systems.

Robin looked out the now shattered cockpit window, his masked face blinking from the pressure of the wind. Nearly two hundred yards ahead, a small body of water sat directly in the planes path, serene and still, in spite of the huge object that was bearing down on it.

"We're gonna hit the water ditch! Everybody hold on!" Robin said, doing what he could to strap the injured captain in tighter.

"And hold your breath!" BeastBoy added. Even though he was being sarcastic, he saw Starfire take a very deep, gasping breath just before the plane experienced its first, and only, splash-down.

_**BAAAAA-**_**WWWWOOOOOSSSHHH!**

Nearly fifty gallons of water poured into the cockpit. Everyone received a cold splash in their faces, but not enough of one to cause suffocation. Everyone felt a bit sick as the plane's impressive bulk was suddenly displaced in the water, swinging it to one side with sickening centrifugal force. All five occupants witnessed the right wing shear-off from the main fuselage, tumbling out of sight before the plane came to slow, steady halt, bobbing up and down in the shallow water with buoy-like calmness.

Robin immediately helped the captain out of his restraints and checked his pulse, confirming that he was only unconscious instead of dead. He helped him out of his chair as his fellow titans shook their heads to stop the throbbing.

"Canon…ball?" Starfire offered, smiling.

The three teens looked, dumbfounded, at her well-placed, clever joke. BeastBoy fell on his side, laughing hyena-style, while Robin grinned and threw the captains arm over his shoulder, and slowly made his way to the exit.

Imagine the Titan's surprise as they opened the primary exit door to find a large crowd of people standing on the tarmac, covering an area the size of three football fields. BeastBoy stopped at the doorway, his mouth hanging open.

"It's them! They're OK!"

"They've got the pilot!"

"The Titan's have done it AGAIN!"

A cheer, as wide as the sea and as loud as a hurricane, came up from the crowd. People from all walks of life were gathered before the wreckage of the plane. Bankers, businessmen, street-vendors, teachers, grade-school kids, the entire high-school football team, and many others littered the runway. As firefighters swarmed the plane, the Titans descended to the ground via Starfires assistance, only to find themselves practically covered in a throng of excited people.

"Hey look! It's Raven! She's got the passengers!" one onlooker cried out. BeastBoy and Robin looked up.

Sure enough, floating down from the sky like a black soap-sud, came Raven and her rescue container. She gracefully landed upon the runway, setting down the passengers ever so gently, and then dematerializing the large dome of energy, much to the relief of the passengers within.

"Frank, you OK buddy?"

"Jeff! Boy, are you a sight for sore eyes!"

"Millie, I was so worried…!"

"Momma!"

"Oh, Gracie, sweetheart, I thought I'd never see you again…!"

Half of the crowd encircled the passengers, the large group desperate to find their saved loved-ones. Various scenes dotted the mass of people; mother's hugging children, friends clapping each other on the back, and lovers embracing and kissing as if the world were about to collapse in on itself. The sense of exhilaration, happiness, and relieved anxiety filled the air of the runway as oxygen fills ones lungs; entirely.

"Nicely done, Raven," Robin said, putting his hand on her shoulder, "you got them all."

"She coulda' come back for us." BeastBoy said with a scowl.

"After seeing you splatter against the Tower, I figured a little plane crash was nothing by comparison." Raven said, rolling her eyes at BB's comment.

"That was immensely entertaining!" Starfire said, flying to Robin's side and gripping his hand, "It was scary and dangerous and caused a bit of the motion sickness, but otherwise _very _entertaining! Could we do it again?"

Cyborg guffawed, and gave Starfire a playful jab in the shoulder. "How 'bout we ride the _Up-Chuck Rocket_ at the amusement park a bunch of times instead and save the city a bundle? That sound good Star?"

Her smile said yes.

The crowd roared again, this time combined with few hundred more voices added to it. All five Titan's were facing the ocean of voices and praise, including one large man and his wife who sounded loud and clear above the rest. Their voices rang like church-bells over a quite village at dusk, loud and bright and crisp and clear.

"Three cheers for the **Teen Titans**!" they yelled. The crowd turned as one, raising their hands and voices in one unanimous din.

"_HIP-HIP, HURRAY!_"

"_HIP-HIP, HURRAY!_"

"_HIP-HIP, __**HURRAY**__!_"

Raven was a bit taken-aback but the surge of noise and praise, her eyes wide at the sight of over one-thousand cheerful faces. "They're a _bit_ more grateful than usual, aren't they?"

"Yeah. It's like a Prozac convention," BeastBoy said, scratching his head.

"Aw come on, guys, cheer up! We're gettin' some serious recognition right here! Why don't you enjoy it?" Cyborg said, raising his arms to the crowd, leading them in a cheer. "Juuuuummmmp Si-Taaaaaaay! _Who do you love?!_"

"**Teen Titans!**" the crowd responded, yelling and whooping even more energetically than before. Raven and BeastBoy both visibly flinched at the exuberance, the two teens finding this sudden and vast appreciation a bit unsettling.

"Teen Titans! If I may have a moment of your time!" came one thunderous voice from somewhere in the middle of the crowd, pushing aside the masses and extending a large hand.

The titans found themselves accosted by a man in his late fifties, sporting a green jacket and a horrible looking tie, along with an odd-looking briefcase. A bald-spot the same basic size and shape of CD sat atop his head and his pudgy mouth was full of big, square teeth. His smile was infectious, if not a little abrasive, and the titans found themselves smiling right along with the large man as he vigorously shook all their hands.

"As mayor elect of the fair metropolis of Jump City, I am pleased to greet you all, and extend my heartfelt thanks and appreciation for what you have done here today." The man said, speaking and breathing like a trained politician. "On behalf of the city council, the governor's office, and the people of this grand conurbation, it is my pleasure to bestow upon you the key to the city, as well as the additional title of 'Urban Guardians!"

Another cheer from the mob-like crowd. BeastBoy winced at the sound just as Robin cringed under the weight of the massive key he had been handed. The copper-colored trophy looked like it weighed a ton, and Robin felt every pound, his smile steady but his hands still weak from his hard-won arm wrestling match with the 747.

"But that isn't all," the mayor said, lifting his hands to calm the crowd, "not by a long shot. I have been given the authority by the state department, the heads of staff of this fine community and its treasury department to bestow, upon each titan, a special gift! That's right; an individual award, tailored to the specific interests of these five outstanding citizens!"

BeastBoy held his ears this time, as did Raven, though both looked pleasant enough to keep the crowd going as they let loose another raucous cheer. They still weren't used to the whole cavalcade of fans, and the look on their faces almost gave that away.

"Firstly, to the young Mr. BeastBoy!" The mayor announced as he opened his briefcase, chuckling much like Santa Claus might have as he doled-out presents, and produced something rather small. "I have a gift of special interest to you. This card will allow you to access and acquire any means of entertainment your heart could ever desire! Movie tickets, delicious tofu meals, video-game purchases, a new motorcycle, a weeks paid vacation to Africa, whatever you like, it's yours! The city is more than happy to foot the bill from now on. Enjoy!"

BeastBoy couldn't speak. He received the green/purple credit card with trembling hands as the crowd again roared with approval, the setting sun reflecting off of the plastic giving it a golden hue. A disbelieving, teary smile appeared on his face.

"I…I don't know what to say," BeastBoy said, still in shock.

"There's a first." Raven said dryly.

"Oh, please don't think that we've forgotten about you, my dear Ms. Raven." The mayor said, reaching into his case once more. "I hold in my hand an official invitation from the world's leaders of philosophical and religious doctrine. Given your experiences with your mother and father, the religious and philosophical communities of this world have taken a key interest in hearing all about your history, family, beliefs, and what they mean for the world and its people. It has been decided, by unanimous vote, that you shall be given your own chair on the UCD, so as to continue your training and meditation in the presence of others in pursuit of the same goals."

Raven just stared as the mayor spoke.

"You have been granted access to every ancient and preserved text on the face of the earth, and are urged to speak at the next international congregation of Religious and Political Ethics." The mayor continued. "Pope Benedict the XVI is especially interested in hearing your views regarding international relations for the future, and his holiness Tenzin Gyatso has requested that you join him in his next teachings on _Jamphel Tsencho_ and _Lhamo Jenang. Congratulations,_ young lady!"

Despite her name, at the moment, Raven looked more like a deer; caught in the head-lights, that is. She accepted the document and marveled at the seal of the United Congress of Dogma, raised and smooth against her fingertips, and fought to regain her speech. Her eye's remained wide for several minutes more.

"Tha-thank…thank you." Raven stutter.

"And now Mr. Cyborg, I have a little something for you." The mayor continued, smiling like a fool as he reached into the attaché. "The world grows smaller and smaller as technology continues to advance, but in this case, a whole new world of opportunities is becoming available to you. This specially designed Intranet-USB connection program will allow you to access any piece of information instantaneously from around the world. It is specifically designed to communicate and extrapolate pieces of data from medical researchers around the globe, all of them experts in the field of genetic and tissue manipulation. With your expertise regarding the complex physiological makeup of your original body, along with the experience of these revered physicians, you will be able, one day, to decide if and when you want to have your body reconstructed from your living DNA. This plethora of knowledge is just the first big step in restoring what was taken from you. It is yours to use how you see fit, and I wish you luck!"

Cyborg accepted the oddly-shaped box containing the program, and found himself unable to speak. A single tear fell from his organic eye, and he used his free hand to touch the area where his heart would be, indicating his extreme gratitude. He bit his lower lip to keep himself from breaking down.

"And Ms. Starfire," the man continued, a grandfather-baritone lacing his voice, "I have something special for you, too. This document has been signed by the president of these United States and also bears the signature of all permanent members of the World Security Council, an establishment founded by the United Nations. It decree's that, as of twelve noon, today, you are an official resident of the Planet Earth, and have been granted legal citizenship in the United States of America. It grants you all the rights, privileges and freedoms guaranteed to any citizen. Please consider every man on this planet to be your brother, every woman your sister, for we shall treat and care for you as one of our own. The UN has also requested that you make contact with your home planet of Tameran, so that the planet Earth might extend a message of peace and prosperity. The leaders of this world would like to begin a new chapter in civilization for this planet, and hope to pursue this new chapter, side by side, with its Tamaranian brethren. Congratulations, my dear girl; you now have two places to call home."

_**GLOMP!**_

"GUCK!"

Robin hadn't been fast enough. Starfire had already latched onto the portly man with an embrace that could crush a grain-silo. Her tears of happiness were big and heavy, staining the man's already sweaty shirt from the hot day. He gently patted her arm, and she released him, clutching the paper delicately, as if it would melt in her hand if she were too rough with it.

"Thank you…so _much_…" Starfire choked out, rubbing her puffy green eyes, smiling when she could.

The mayor choked out a few breaths, adjusted his collar, and turned to Robin. But the Boy Wonder preempted him, and held up his hand.

"I don't think I could accept a gift as generous as the ones you've given to my friends," Robin said, "because I—we—don't do what we do for such lavish awards. It's what we vowed to do when we came to this city; protect it, no matter what."

The mayor looked quizzical, but then smiled a wry smile, as if sharing a joke with himself. "Well, that makes my job a bit easier."

"What do you mean?" BeastBoy asked.

"Well, I do have something for Robin, but it's not a gift; it's a letter." The mayor confessed.

"A letter? Are you serious?" Cyborg said, turning to face the smaller man. "From who?"

The crowd was all a twitter with excitement and puzzlement. Some sounded outraged, flabbergasted at the idea that the leader of such a prestigious group would not receive an award as well.

"It's strange, but I was told not to open this until I had you alone," the mayor said, scratching his head, "away from prying eyes and ears."

"I don't keep secrets from my friends…at least, not anymore," Robin said, looking at Starfire, enjoying her warm smile, "so whatever that thing says, it can be read aloud."

The mob agreed with him, yelling and shouting their approval. With that, the mayor shrugged, and opened the manila envelope, sliding out a large, official looking strip of gold-red paper, and began to read.

"To one _Robin, _presiding leader of the _Teen Titans _of _Jump City,_

"For your exemplary demonstration of leadership skills, outstanding aptitude for combating the forces of evil and successful establishment of a world-wide teenage crime-fighting force, you are hereby granted an honorary Senior Position upon the High Council of the _Justice League. _You are therefore granted all standard support, intelligence, and resources bequeathed to all members of said council, and are ordered to report to the orbiting surveillance satellite _Watchtower _for your official indoctrination into the _JL. _Your subordinates are encouraged to accompany you, and you are expected to provide all collected and analyzed criminal data to the _Watchtower _information compendium, so as to better serve the law-enforcement and justice community at large. We expect your prompt response and timely arrival to the _Watchtower's_ location in geosynchronous orbit.

"Signed, the _Executive_ _Justice League_ _Council_,

"_Batman, Superman, and Wonder-Woman_."

The crowd went berserk. There wasn't a silent person on that slowly darkening runway, and all the voices' present joined in celebration and congratulations for their young Boy Wonder.

Robin, however, didn't say a thing.

"PS!" the mayor read loudly waving his hand, trying to get the crowds attention. "PS—We'll see you in a few days, kid. Congrats: you finally made it. Regards, B.W."

The crowd seemed generally confused, but Robin just hung his head and smiled. It had been a long time since he had heard those initials, and even though no one else had any idea what they stood for, he knew all too well.

He hadn't laughed to himself like that in years.

"Sounds pretty serious," the mayor commented, screwing up his eyes, "but who the heck is B.W—?"

"You know we can't discuss that." Robin said, waving him off politely. "But thank you for delivering this to me. This...this is really big."

"So I see," the mayor laughed, enjoying Robin's surprised but happy look, "and you are right. This is big, for all of you. You've done so much for this city, it's only fitting that we do something to show our gratitude. You are Jump City's favorite sons and daughters, and we are honored to be under your protection."

"But these gifts, these opportunities…this is all too much." Raven said.

"Yeah, I mean, do you know how much time I spend at the arcade WITHOUT all this money?" BeastBoy asked, still looking at the card as if it weren't real. "I'm not sure we can accept ALL of this."

The mayor faced the crowd again, and raised his voice to the stars that had become so much brighter in the sky over the past several minutes. "What do _**you**_ think, Jump City? Should they accept these gifts?"

The crowd exploded with approval, jumping and clapping like a city-wide pep-rally. The ground literally shook with the crowd's rowdiness, so much so that the water in which the wrecked-plane sat began to ripple with the vibrations.

"The town has spoken," the mayor said with a shrug and a smile, "and since we rarely take no for an answer…"

"OK, OK…Thank you. Thank you all," Robin said softly, looking over his team and pulling Starfire into a welcomed hug, "from the bottom of our hearts."

"Excellent! There is a reception being held in your honor on pier seven of the Jump City Warf. We had to whip something up quick, but I'm sure you will enjoy it. Join us, please!" the mayor said, wrapping his arms around Star and Robin and moving his way through the applauding masses. Cyborg followed close behind, holding his hands in two peace signs above his head, signaling his wish for the crowd to continue their rapturous din.

Raven was about to follow, but noticed that BeastBoy was still holding and looking at his gift with an unusual amount of scrutiny; at least, beyond any level of scrutiny BeastBoy had exhibited before. He seemed to be looking for microscopic fine-print that could only be found on the very bottom of the most insidious legally-binding contracts.

"Though I wouldn't leave it sitting in your _room_, I doubt it's going to disappear if you suddenly take your eyes off of it." Raven said dryly, eying the card from a distance.

BeastBoy didn't look up. He kept turning his gift over and over, expecting to find some 'got ya!' label on it, or maybe a hidden clause. Raven thought it odd that BeastBoy wasn't smiling, and seemed to have lost a great deal of enthusiasm.

"I wish I could be sure of that," Beast Boy said, finally turning and joining Raven as she walked down the runway, "I really do."

* * *

The next several weeks were hectic, to say the least, and time flew accordingly. So much had happened between the time of the plane crash—and the subsequent gifts and accommodations that the Titans had received—and the present day. It was almost silly just how much could be accomplished in just over five and a half months. But for the Titans—two in particular—time poured through the sieve that was the waking moments of their life.

The tower seemed all but vacant these days. Having vastly improved upon the city's defensive network during his inauguration into the Justice League, Robin was hardly needed around the tower, or the city, for that matter. Every time he contacted his fellow Titans, it was right before or right after he had engaged in a major deployment with the League, flying off to Kazakhstan one night, only to reappear in Brussels the next. His face was continuously seen in all the papers, posing over the conquered bunker of a terrorist here, a maniacal doctor there. He was labeled as one of the most promising up-and-coming recruits for the Justice League, and was credited for saving various dignitaries and fellow hero's on several occasions. His future seemed set.

Ironically, nearly every mission that Robin was sent on threw him into the path of Earth's newest honorary resident, and diplomat: Starfire. They would bump into each other just long enough to give each other a helping a hand with whatever the other person might be doing, and for someone to snap a photo. The integration of Earthly customs and those of the planet Tameran into everyday society was slow-going, but the progress was evident. New pieces of technology from off-world allowed for entire new theories about energy-production and metallurgical design to be put into practice, and the technology assimilated by the people of Tameran from Earth saw a dramatic increase in agrarian cultivation and medical/scientific efficacy. The world, for the most part, seemed to be adjusting well to direct contact and interaction with an alien species (after all, if Superman and the Martian Manhunter were any indication, interaction with other species was not only mutually beneficial, but practically essential to Earth's future). Starfire was chief liaison to her people, giving them the same direct and helpful insight that Robin had provided her with when she first arrived on Earth all those years ago, although it did take a while for Earth foreign diplomats to become accustomed to the lip-to-lip language integration methods of the Tamaranian's.

The only person Robin had any real contact with—besides Starfire, of course—was Cyborg. Even then, the bionic-man was constantly working, so getting a-hold of him was just as unlikely. In the last week alone he had visited fourteen different countries and seventy different medical research facilities, all in the pursuit of his physical restoration. He had achieved great success in protein and peptide manipulation while visiting China, and the physicians in Moscow were on the brink of total organ regenerative procedures, in an effort to re-grow every vital part of his body that Cyborg had done without for so long. At last count, he was spending nearly forty hours out of every forty-eight doing nothing but testing the strength of DNA adhesive bonds, simulated autoimmune reconstruction, and the like. It was a very taxing lifestyle, but then, labors of love usually were.

Raven thought about all this as she soared high over the bay between the mainland and her home, Titan's Tower. It seemed strange that she still thought of this place as her home, since she had barely spent any time in this particular building over the last four months. It still stood in the middle of the bay, tall and proud and silent, with barely any glowing lights within the large windows. Raven felt a chill blow across her skin, causing Goosebumps to rise all over her exposed flesh. Fall was in full swing by now, and the air, along with most of the scenery, seemed heavy with the increasing cold.

"It'll be nice to visit my room," Raven said to herself, leaning to her right, approaching the windswept helipad on the roof of the tower, "provided BeastBoy's parties haven't destroyed what's left of it."

Raven set down on the cold metal helipad on the roof and looked around. Since no one had been up to play volley-ball or Frisbee on the roof in many weeks, the ground was littered with debris from the sea and scattered pieces of garbage. She closed her cloak around her cold legs, and hurried to the door, just as a large, white albatross landed on the ledge behind her.

"Perhaps you should fly inland," Raven said to the large bird, "before that storm out at sea hits."

For a second or so, the bird seemed to look at Raven, intently, as if considering what she had suggested. Raven found this odd, since she had merely been sarcastic with her comment, but it still seemed odd that this large, spotlessly white creature was carefully listening to what she was saying. Before she could speak again, however, the bird departed, diving off of the ledge and into the increasingly dark sky beyond.

Raven gave the bird one final look of scrutiny before yanking open the rooftop doorway and slipping inside, slamming the heavy steel frame behind her.

The tower seemed chilled. Raven felt as though she were walking into an air-conditioning vent, the cold permeating the steel walls and concrete steps. It had been a while since anyone had needed to use this stairwell, and the weather from outside could be felt even though it was blocked by two feet of cement and metal. Hopefully it would be warmer in the main living areas of the tower's interior.

"I'm…home." Raven said softly, as if announcing her presence to a ghost. She stepped out of the cold access way, and into the considerably warmer corridor. Raven felt her cheeks flush red from the sudden heat, and removed her ambassadorial hood from her head. The robes she wore were symbolic of peace and tranquility, adorned with the symbols of over a thousand creeds and ancient doctrines, laced upon blue, silken vestments and a flowing cloak. She looked like the equivalent of a spiritual NASCAR racer, only instead of promoting the sale of products, the symbols were designed specifically for universal communication, cooperation, peace and harmony. Raven was proud to wear such a garment, but it was still atrociously hot.

The tower was surprisingly dark. Raven could only see because of the fading glow of the hallway's light bulbs, which looked like they were about to burn out. As she made her way down the corridor towards the common-room of the tower, Raven could smell a rather odd odor all around her. The smell was clogging, stuffy and mildew-laden. Even though the tower was supposed to receive a weekly cleaning service, Raven had the impression that she was walking through a very large attic or crawlspace; it felt as though the area had not been visited or tended-to in years.

Raven finally reached the sliding doors of the common room. At first, the door didn't seem to recognize her presence, until it lazily slid open, revealing the not-too-much brighter command center of the tower. "Robin? Cyborg? Starfire? Is anybody-?"

_SQUISH!_

"…here?" Raven finished, reluctant to look down, but doing so anyway. Raven felt a bit of revulsion ride through her as she realized what she had stepped on. The tofu cube was about the size of a gym-shoe, and nearly as stiff. It gave under Raven's weight, splitting open like a pale, over-ripe squash. It covered her boot and smelled like moldy cheese mixed with dead vegetables.

Raven grimaced as she tried to drag her foot across the carpet, wiping as much of the material away as she could. As she walked further into the room, she finally saw what the cause of the discarded food-product had stemmed from.

The kitchen was a war zone. Pots and pans were strewn about like confetti, littering every surface with filth and rot. Upon the open refrigerator, Raven could see a 'do it yourself' shaved-ice machine, still whirring away, pumping out melted chunks of flavored ice into a large container which, ironically, would have been full to capacity already, had there not been a very large hole in the bottom. The sink was buried beneath culinary debris and the floor was so sticky and grease-covered that it was un-traversable. Had it been summer, flies and gnats would have swarmed the pile of exposed tofu, fruit, and various other edibles that sat upon the kitchen counter, but in the relative heat of the tower and no tropical weather, insects were not prevalent; the stench, however, was practically crippling.

"BeastBoy's room has become malignant," Raven said with dry sarcasm, "and seeks to encompass the entire tower before it's finished."

Raven approached the equally disastrous couch and TV area. Aside from multiple discarded cartons of food, both of the take-out and create-your-own variety, there were several new stains and smirches all over the couch and carpet, some looking as if they would spring to life at any second. The smell was not as bad here, but the TV cast a gaudy amount of light upon the scene, making it look like a college dorm room. The static upon the screen was silent, the TV having been muted some time earlier, and the screen itself was flickering oddly. It seemed as though the towers wireless and satellite connection had degraded sharply over the last few months, since Raven knew for a fact that Cyborg would never settle for anything less that a crystal clear screen.

One thing, however, was not out of place; it was seated in the same spot it always had since the towers construction had been completed all those years ago.

"ZZZzzzZZZzzzZZZzzz… (SNORT)…hmmm, pass the ketchup…" mumbled the sleeping teen.

Raven looked at the comical expression upon the face of the inverted BeastBoy. His leg hung over the side of the couch like a vine, while his head dangled off the edge of the seat. A large dollop of drool hung from his top lip, and his eyes were loosely closed, no doubt indicating that his was dreaming.

"I hope he isn't having nightmares." Raven said to herself, before stopping her voice all together, letting her jaw hang as openly as BB's. "Wait…since when do I care about BeastBoy's nightmares?"

Raven thought about it for a second, and then shook it off. She then bent over the side of the couch, getting as close to BeastBoy as she dared, and began to whisper in his ear, attempting to rouse him.

"BeastBoy?" Raven said, trying to be soft but firm, "Wake up. You have a heck of a mess to clean up."

BeastBoy lolled his head to one side, but didn't wake. His snoring continued.

"BeastBoy!" Raven said in a sharp whisper. "Get up! It's only six thirty at night!"

Still nothing.

This was getting her nowhere. Finally, Raven decided upon a more direct approach. She reached under the hanging foot that BeastBoy had slung over the couch, and carefully lifted it up. As soon as it cleared the hooking point upon the seat-back, BeastBoy's weight won-out, and the shape shifter came tumbling to the ground, head first.

_CLUMP!_

"_Howinthuh_…who…I never touched the coffee-cake!" BeastBoy yelled, sitting straight up on the ground. For a moment, his eyes refused to focus, sending his pupils into a frenzy of spiraling confusion. It took a few seconds for him to get to his feet and appraise the situation, as well as his waker.

"Raven? What are you doin' here?" BeastBoy asked, his drool finally falling from his mouth with a sharp plop.

"I'm surprised you didn't drown," Raven said, folding her arms "especially if you drool like that and sleep upside down."

"Nah, the blood pools at the top of my head, and I fall asleep faster." BB explained.

"Wow, you almost sounded like you knew what you were talking about." Raven scoffed.

BeastBoy smiled sleepily, scratching the back of his head while Raven appraised the area around him. "So…what, a health-food tornado hit the tower?"

BeastBoy felt a bit self-conscious, and looked around with a nervous smile. "Oh, well, ya know…it was Saturday night, we had just knocked over a couple of _Cluster Burger_ joints, dodged the fuzz and felt like celebrating."

Raven continued to look at the field of discarded boxes and Styrofoam containers. "We? I have a hard time believing that Cyborg or Robin would join in this debauchery of all things organic and soy."

Out of the corner of Raven's eye, she saw something move. Months of diplomatic inquiry and debate hadn't softened the senses of the sorceress, and she spun to the left, raising her hands in preparation for a strike…

…only to be met by the eye's of another groggy teenager, not ten feet away. It was a pair of eyes that she didn't recognize.

"Hey, B, have you seen my granola? I could've sworn that I dropped it over here..." said the teen, now standing in the flickering light of the TV. Raven lowered her hand.

She couldn't have been more than sixteen or seventeen years old. Her hair was a strange green-blue color, and the dark lines beneath her heavily mascara-covered eyes made her look ghostly. Her tank-top was sheer and her skirt left almost nothing to the imagination, which made Raven a bit uncomfortable with how close she was getting. The girls' sandals were broken and frayed, but her watch was brand-new. It was the fashion-accessories _Nightmare on Elm Street _come alive.

The girl came within two feet of Raven, stopped, and placed one hand on her sharp hip. "Who's duh Goth?"

BeastBoy stepped forward before Raven had a chance to answer the question in her own unique way. "She's cool, Jezebel. Ummm…what happened to Ricky?"

Raven watched as the girl leaned back her head, brought her fingers to her mouth, and whistled, loudly, into the room from whence she came. "Rick! _Donde estas tu, miho?_ Get your butt out here!"

The girls' thick Latin accent rang clearly throughout the empty room, and caused the doors to the adjacent hallway to open a moment later. Another guy, probably about eighteen, came bounding out of the dimly lit hallway, and jumped down the six steps to the floor of the common room. He was about six feet tall and thin as a stick, but he had enough hair to bury Raven if he stood right over her. It flowed off of the teens' head like a scraggly brown-black waterfall, and came to a point around his relatively short goatee.

"Jez, check it out!" The teen, known as Ricky, yelled in his companions' ear. "Four parts lemon-grass, two parts ginger, one part essence of garlic, and three parts cloves! I blended it up with four dried prunes and cooled it off in the freezer! I call it…_The Vegan Plumber!_"

"What is he _doing_?" Raven asked BeastBoy under her breath, slightly alarmed at the behavior of this man.

"I think he just created something that will thoroughly clean out your tract," BB said, eyeing the blue concoction while tilting his head, "if it doesn't kill you first."

Raven watched with a macabre fascination as the gangly teen proceeded to drink half of his concoction, and then hand the rest over to his smarmy friend, who finished off the glass. After a few seconds, a horrendously-loud belch erupted from Ricky's mouth, lasting about five full seconds before it finally dissipated, causing Ricky to fall flat on his butt. His smile was genuine and lazy, while the look on Jezebel's face resembled that of one who was seriously contemplating homicide.

"Rick, what is this crud?! I think you just fed me liquid sod!" Jezebel said, feeling almost as green as BeastBoy looked.

Raven felt her nose curl up from the stench of the belch, and BB's ultra sensitive sense of smell was practically lighting his nose on fire. "WHEW! OK, look guys, mix the vegan-liquid-drain-o somewhere else tonight, alright? I have company."

The two hooligans helped each other to their feet, Jezebel doing her best to bare the weight of her companion. As they made their way to the door, Raven heard the girl mutter something about party-crashing, before she and her seemingly hung-over friend disappeared out of the sliding doors, into the cold hallway beyond.

Raven cocked an eyebrow at BeastBoy as he tried to straighten out the couch, shrugging and smiling with embarrassment. "Organo-junkies. Great party animals, as long as they don't have to pay for the tofu."

"And why would they? You've pretty much cornered the market, from what I can tell." Raven said, picking up a 'Tub-O-Tofu' container, examining how empty it was. "How much did this all cost?"

"Not a dime; the city kept its word," BeastBoy smiled, "and they haven't asked for any compensation since we rescued that plane."

"Good to know that you've been keeping busy," Raven sighed, looking at the mess, "but couldn't you have cleaned up once every six weeks or so?"

"Aww, where's the fun in that? Besides, I'm sprawled out all over the tower, so you don't have to worry about this stuff getting into your room after it spills out of mine." BeastBoy said, chucking some trash into a can.

Raven smirked, and sat upon the one relatively clean spot on the couch. She levitated a remote-control over to her hand, the motion as familiar to her as pressing a computer-key, and switched off the large monitor. The screen retracted into the ceiling, as did the large tinted panels that covered the western-facing windows of the tower. As the windows cleared, Raven could see the beginnings of clouds and an overcast-horizon, swirling with cold winds and a light snow. The evening was upon them, and with it, the storm from the north-west, out and beyond the sea.

"I hear you've been pretty busy yourself," BeastBoy said, discarding a few more piles or rubbish before sitting a few feet away from Raven, "what with that huge summit whatever-it-was."

"The Terran Congregational Summit," Raven filled in, crossing her legs, "and yes, very busy. It took a whole month just to decide on a location that would be both suitable and neutral enough to host such a vast selection of sovereign representatives. We finally decided on Easter Island, but even that was met with a lot of distain. Eventually, the actual location of the summit was forgotten so as to focus upon the PURPOSE of the summit itself. I swear, sometimes it amazes me that these people can be the cultural and ethnic stewards that they are and STILL find it difficult to agree on the smallest thing. Incredible."

BeastBoy screwed up his eyes for a moment. "But I read that it was successful."

"It was, for the most part, once all the squabbling died down." Raven said, looking tiredly in BeastBoy's direction. "I felt a great deal of accomplishment, actually. The Congregation has agreed to meet again in about two weeks, this time focusing on the conflict accumulating around the West Bank in Jordan. It should be pretty…intense."

"You can handle it," BeastBoy said, opening a warm can of soda, "especially once they get a glimpse of how much better things will be."

"Do you really think that?" Raven said, tilting her head quizzically.

"Hey, if we can live under the same roof for as long as we did without you killing me, I think you should be nominated for sainthood." BeastBoy said, knocking back a slug of cola, making a face when he realized it was warm.

"That's interesting," Raven said, looking out the window, "the Cultural Attaché to the Warring Nations said something along the same lines to me the other day. He's surprised that you still have all your fingers and toes."

"PPBBPTBPTBBPTB!" BeastBoy snorted, the cola streaming out his nose, even though his mouth was wide open. BeastBoy was caught in the middle of a big belly laugh, and it just happened to coincide with his drink; his nose would burn the rest of the night.

"Are you OK?" Raven asked, creasing her brow slightly.

"A joke!" BeastBoy yelled, throwing his arms upwards, the can of cola flying backwards into the junk-pile behind them. "Well I'll be dipped in batter and rolled in breadcrumbs: A Joke! And a good one, too! I think that's the funniest crack you've ever made at my expense, and you've made some whoppers!"

Raven wasn't sure if she should take the cola-spittle-covered teen seriously, because his comment was just as strange as his appearance at the moment. "Well…thank you, I guess."

"And check it out! No melting light bulbs or kitchen-ware! No black halos!" BeastBoy said, looking around the tower, his giddy smile replaced with one of wonder. "You must have developed some serious control over the last few months."

"Not really," Raven said, "more like focus. And it has been a bit…strange, to say the least. Last week I actually tripped over this robe, and fell on my face. I thought the room would erupt from my embarrassment…but it didn't. As a matter of fact, I stood up, and no one said a thing; the atmosphere was totally professional."

"No kidding?" BeastBoy inquired. "I thought I noticed some weird stuff too."

"Like what?"

"Well, like with this card-thing that I got from the mayor." BB said, taking said card out from his pocket, holding it up for Raven to see. "Apparently this thing works, not only in the city, but everywhere I travel, too. I've been to Belize, Zaire, Ecuador…all these places accept this card. What's more, people are starting to…DO things for me."

Raven made a face. "Do I even want to know?"

BeastBoy made a face as well. "Nothing weird, just…stuff. I say that a piece of forest should be set aside for a species of animal; a week later, it's done. I hint that it would be a good idea to reduce the amount of fishing in a particular area; in a few days, it becomes legal sanction. It's like people suddenly care about the things I have to say about the environment, and actually put them into application. Maybe I'm being a bit dramatic, but doesn't that seem a bit…odd?"

Raven moved a bit closer, looking BeastBoy over. "There's something different about you, too. Something, I don't know, physically different."

BeastBoy stood, spread his arms, and looked himself up and down. "Like what?"

He noticed exactly what it was as soon as Raven stood next to him.

"AHH! I'm…BIG! I mean _tall_. Well, tall-_er!_" BeastBoy said, noticing that his eyes were level with Raven's. "How did this happen?"

Raven looked dubious, and actually frowned with perplexity; something she hadn't done for a few months. "These things just seem to happen nowadays."

BeastBoy stopped his posing and smiling, looking at Raven and her glum expression. "Come again?"

Raven didn't look at him so much as through him as she talked. "I'm not sure. But I've noticed that I seemed to be 'improving' much more conspicuously—and frequently—as well. Aside from the bickering and the posturing, the delegates of the summit seemed strangely apt to agree with my suggestions. When they couldn't agree on any unbiased, level debating-ground upon which they could all meet and converse as equals, I suggested several places, even Antarctica, and it only took them a few minutes to…"

BeastBoy caught it. He had been looking at his newly grown shoulders when they suddenly froze up on him, and his eyes fell on Raven. He noticed the same perplexed look on her face, and slowly pointed a finger, indicating that she was reacting the same way that he was.

"Did you just get a really strange…feeling, in your gut?" BeastBoy said.

"Like that twisting, vertigo thing when you know something is wrong but can't place exactly what it is?" Raven said, nodding with downcast eyes. "Yeah. And you just felt it too, didn't you?"

"Big time." BeastBoy said, sitting down once more. He looked out the window, unable to see the horizon. The storm had stepped-up its intensity, and the swirling, whipping winds now carried more snow and sleet. It was difficult to see beyond the waterline of the rocky shore beneath the tower.

Raven followed his gaze, and felt a strange chill overcome her body. She suddenly felt the same way she did when she first landed on the roof, and it was unsettling, considering how much warmer it was inside the tower.

"You've noticed it more than once, haven't you?" Raven inquired, pulling her cloak tighter around her shoulders. "You've noticed how certain things seem to prick at your flesh, like a bad memory."

BeastBoy seemed to scowl a bit, which surprised Raven. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Raven cocked her head again, this time as a reaction to BeastBoy's tone. "I think it bothers you just as much as it bothers me. Even more so to learn that I have the same reaction to the same strange phrases."

BeastBoy had a 'tell'. Much like a poker player, BeastBoy, as well as the rest of the titans, had a very distinct telling quirk imbedded in his personality, which always described much more than any single word or action. It signified a chink, or rupture, in the emotional armor that all humans cover themselves in, in order to function around others and in society.

At the moment, BeastBoy's 'tell' was sending Raven a veritable Morse-code of information; he turned his head, and his eyes darted back and forth quickly, as if searching for something.

Raven didn't need to point it out, and simply asked her question. "When did you first notice it?"

Unfortunately, he answered her question with one of his own. "Do you want some tea?"

"Tea?" Raven asked, faltering slightly.

"Yeah, tea. Can I make you some?"

"You want to make me _tea?_"

"Yes, tea."

"**Tea**."

"Is there an echo in here?" BeastBoy said, walking toward the war-zone that had once resembled the titan's kitchen. "Tea; herbal tea. I'm making some, and would like to make you some as well."

Raven watched as BeastBoy walked away, toward a relatively untouched part of the kitchen, and opened a cupboard. He produced two tea bags, set them in mugs, and placed a kettle upon the dirty stove, igniting the burner beneath it with one twist of the toggle.

Raven watched all this with a beguiling look on her pale face, never interrupting BeastBoy as he slowly but expertly put together two cups of tea in little more than ten minutes. As BeastBoy finished pouring, he topped off both mugs with a sprinkle of ginger and mint, and killed the gas on the stove-top. He walked back over to the still dirty couch and handed Raven her mug.

Had Raven not been astounded by the fact that BeastBoy had given her her favorite tea-mug, she might have started up the conversation again. But BeastBoy preempted her thoughts.

"I've grown to really like this stuff," he said, carefully sipping, "especially on nights like tonight. It's freezing outside, and this herbal mix cuts the chill really well."

"Well…tea is strange like that," Raven said, studying her own mug and the spices within it, "it cools us down when we're hot, and heats us up when we're cold…"

"And it's loaded with antioxidants," BeastBoy added enthusiastically, "not to mention all the nutrients and vitamins you can find in a single bag of highly concentrated—"

"Thirty-eight." Raven stated.

BeastBoy almost swallowed the burning liquid down the wrong pipe. He burned his upper lip slightly, which caused him to loose his grip on the mug. A few droplets fell upon his chin, which made him grimace visibly. He turned away from Raven so as not to show his embarrassment. "P-Pardon?"

Raven sighed deeply, looking from her mug to the window and the weather beyond. The storm seemed to be upon them in earnest now, battering the thick windows and whipping snow and sleet against the cold metal structure of the tower. The sky was more than overcast, much more; deep gray clouds smothered the atmosphere, rolling like great bales of dirty cotton-candy. Raven could feel the faintest rumble of thunder in the distance, shaking the sky and echoing off of the waves too far away to see.

The weather seemed fitting for such an uncomfortable discussion.

"On thirty eight separate occasions—thirty nine, if you count the one from twenty minutes ago—I've either spoken or heard something that conjured up that bizarre, unsettling sensation that both of us just felt," Raven said, her tone and voice as measured as the sand in a rock garden, "and each time, I've dismissed it as irrational, nonsensical worrying; a byproduct of stress and déjà vu."

BeastBoy said nothing. His head was level and his shoulders squared, but he didn't turn to look at Raven or join her in the conversation. The only movement Raven could make out was the wisp of steam from his mug that slowly floated over his shoulder in the dreary light of the snowstorm outside.

"At first, I thought I wasn't getting enough sleep. There were nights where I would be up into the early morning hours, discussing treaties or drafting speeches or debating parliamentary conduct." Raven said, enjoying the warmth of the mug in her hands as it balanced on her knees. "I would see and hear things that didn't make sense. One time, a man from Istanbul mentioned the word 'Xinothium' out of context during one meeting, and it threw me so badly that I had to ask him to restate his question. Another time, I was visiting the Women's Heritage Delegation in Huntsville, Alabama, to discuss the role in which women _have_ and _would_ influence global mediation in the future. One of the women mentioned later that her pet cat named 'Tiger' had spilled 'green' paint all over an expensive 'ice' blue dress of hers. I faltered so violently that I spilled my lemonade all over the skirt of the delegate from Connecticut."

"Then let me guess," BeastBoy said with an air of contempt, still facing away, "you said you were sorry, and the delegate smiled and said nothing of it? Maybe reassured you that it was no big deal and that you shouldn't worry about it?"

Raven felt a sickly sensation boil up in her throat upon hearing just how accurate BeastBoy was. "The delegation concluded in two days time, four days ahead of schedule. It was one of the most successful conferences I've had to date. The woman invited me to have lunch with her next week."

BeastBoy took another sip from his tea, breathing in the aromatic scent, and sighed deeply. "You sound almost disappointed."

"Here's the thing," Raven said, a little louder this time, "I felt exactly the opposite…and acted accordingly."

BeastBoy turned, one eye squinting. "Acted?"

"I laughed." Raven said, shrugging slightly, looking into the storm-filled sky. "As soon as the women left, I laughed aloud. I laughed out of frustration, anxiety, relief, hope…I laughed _hard_."

BeastBoy's face softened. "Well that's…great! And nothing happened?"

"No," Raven said, looking at BeastBoy's suddenly happy face, placing her mug to the side, "nothing! No exploding appliances, no sizzling furniture, no shattering windows. When I finally realized that nothing was happening, I laughed again. And then again. And again! It was…wonderful!"

"That sounds great!" BeastBoy said, sitting closer. "I'll bet it felt amazing."

"It _is_amazing!" Raven said with a smile.

"It's…stupendous!" BeastBoy said, adding his own glee.

"It's **phenomenal**!" Raven said, sitting up with her excitement.

"It's colossal!" BeastBoy said, smiling like a fool, infected by the good cheer of the conversation.

"It's…it's…!"

BeastBoy smiled broadly and held up his arms in a victory 'V', waiting for Raven to finish her sentence with incredible exuberance.

"…_wrong._"

BeastBoy visibly recoiled upon the couch, nearly dropping his mug in the process. He fell flat on his rear, all the blood momentarily draining from his face and into his stomach. He felt his fingers and toes begin to tingle, as if her were standing upon the edge of a mile-high cliff with nothing to keep him from falling. He felt a deep, slicing fear race though his body, cutting a tectonic-like fault line through his resolve. He hadn't been this afraid in years, primarily because his eyes had never beheld such a sight.

She was _crying_.

He couldn't believe it; Raven, the supposedly almighty conveyer of spells and incantations, the daughter of one of the most feared creatures in the universe, the most collected and focused woman he had ever met, was **crying**. It didn't seem possible. Forget the impossibility of the words 'Raven' and 'crying' ever appearing in the same sentence together, the idea was an almost unfeasible scenario to formulate in his head. Raven. Crying. It…just didn't fit.

And yet, there it was. "R…Raven? What in…I mean, how…?"

She held her hands before her, level with her chest, her fingers curved into claws of despair. They hung in the air and shook ever so slightly, as if she were having a small seizure. Her mouth was slightly open, and her lip actually quivered as if she were about to loose it. Her cheeks were flushed red and her forehead was rutted with worry-lines, making her look much older than she actually was.

But her _eyes_…her eyes made BeastBoy cringe. Tears were pouring freely from her shining, watery orbs, cascading like twin waterfalls down her cheeks. BeastBoy had always admired how pretty Raven's eyes really were (when she decided to show them), but now, they looked deformed and hollow. Her pupils were huge, looking almost like the eyes of an fish, and they refused to focus on anything.

In spite of all this, Raven retained her beauty. But it was the beauty of someone experiencing intense sorrow.

"What's happening?" BeastBoy asked, suddenly very on-edge. "What are you doing?"

Raven finally looked at BeastBoy, but as she spoke, her voice was shallow and croaky, as if she had just involuntarily swallowed a large amount of water. Her face changed slightly from a mournful mask into a façade of incredulity. "What does it look like, idiot?!"

The slight inflection in her voice spooked BeastBoy even more. "Well I can _see_ what you're doing, but…what the heck is going on?"

Raven sniffled loudly, and brought one of her hands up to her eye, attempting to wipe away as much of her tears as she could. "I'm…I'm feeling really…_confused_ and…and my chest feels tight and my hands feel cold and…!"

"You look really…_sad._" BeastBoy said, still in disbelief.

He watched as Raven nodded slowly, choking back a sob. "Yeah…"

"But since when do you…I mean, you're never sad." BeastBoy said, fumbling his words.

Raven looked at him with a mix of hatred, disbelief and hurt: the worst combination he had ever seen. Her voice was still hoarse, but her tone and eyes gave BeastBoy the impression that she wanted to kill him where he sat. "Why you…! _How could you say that?!_"

'_Uh-oh…'_BeastBoy thought in horror, snapping his big mouth shut.

"You think I'm never **sad**? You think that all the emotions that you experience are yours alone to endure?!" Raven yelled, her tears and voice quickly escalating in intensity. "That I can't feel the same things _you_ do?!"

The changeling held up his hands defensively, his eyes wide. BeastBoy knew he had screwed up; BADLY.

"NO! No No No! That's…that's not what I meant! That was dumb, REALLY dumb! I…I shouldn't have said it like that, I should know better! Please, I'm sorry, I'm _so_ sorry Raven! What I meant was…you and sad, I mean…I've never…_seen _it! You always keep it hidden, and you meditate to deal with the really intense stuff, but I've never actually seen you break down like this! That's why I'm a bit freaked out here!" BeastBoy said, coming as close as he dared to the livid young woman with pleading, upturned hands.

Raven took a few deep breaths, coughing a bit to slow her pulse and un-blur her vision. After a minute or so, she sat back on the couch, still crying but much more collected than she had been. BeastBoy watched as she regrouped, but was completely unprepared for what she said next.

"It feels…_really _good, actually." She sighed, still sobbing under her breath.

BeastBoy had gone from surly to ecstatic to genuinely frightened in less than ten minutes, and it was messing with his head. "Feels _good_? What feels good?"

Raven actually chuckled through her tears, staring out at the billowing snow. "You take it for granted, this ability to cry. The act itself is painful, taxing and border-line debilitating. But I don't think you fully understand just how valuable such an act is."

BeastBoy crossed his legs beneath him, placing his tea in his lap. His eyes never left Raven's face, and he blinked only when he really needed to, for fear that something would be missed if he did it too often. "I'm still not following."

"I used to have to meditate in order to control and focus my emotions," Raven said, still visibly in anguish with a strange, small smile plastered on her face, "but over the last few months, I've not had to do it _once_. The emotions come, and they wash over me like…warm rain water. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, for that wall of uncontrollable power to smack me in the face…but it never comes."

BeastBoy listened.

"I've felt them all; nervousness right before a meeting, anxiety about my progress, joy when I hear good news, sadness when I present evidence of unnecessary suffering," Raven continued, "and survived them all. Sadness was something I wasn't really prepared to endure, but despite the crying and tears and aches and despair, after it was all done, I felt this incredible…"

"Elation?" BeastBoy said, softly finishing her thought.

Raven smiled a little more, nodding at his choice of words. "It felt _wonderful_. The process was tough, but the end result was more satisfying than any amount of meditation could have given me. I felt rejuvenated, cleansed, ready to start again…I've never felt anything like it."

BeastBoy nodded as well, keeping his silence.

"I'm sorry I freaked you out, but it felt necessary to cry," Raven said, her voice steadying, "if only to feel the relief that almost always comes afterwards."

"I think I understand," BeastBoy said, keeping his voice even and comforting, "but the fact that you needed to cry at all is probably what messed with me most, along with the act itself."

"Why is that?" Raven said.

BeastBoy smiled nervously as he took a deep breath, and did his best to keep his own voice from faltering. "You scared the _crud_ out of me. In all the time I've known you, I've never seen you so visibly freaked, so candidly miserable. I…didn't know how to react. I knew I had to ACT in some way; something in me was ordering me to take action, to do something…to help you. And I couldn't, because I didn't know how."

Raven felt BeastBoy's words as they floated through the air and into her he ears, filling her with an immeasurable sensation of warmth. So often she had sensed this kindness, this concern from BeastBoy and the other titans, but until now, she hadn't the faintest idea as to how she would react or deal with such sensations. But now, as she sat on that dirty couch, safe inside the tower amidst such a horrible storm, she was finally able to comprehend those feelings.

Unfortunately, this realization only produced more tears.

BeastBoy looked panic-stricken, thinking that perhaps his words had caused Raven more pain, more sorrow. "Wait, what's wrong? What did I say this time?! Oh, man, I _suck_ at this!"

Raven would have laughed, but she was too busy trying to keep herself from crying. "No, no, it's…it's not you. I understand what you're saying. And more importantly, I can also _feel _what you're saying. Often I hear all these terms of endearment from the others, and you, and I haven't been able to express how much I appreciate them. I'm actually…happy. I'm so happy that I can finally hear, understand, and feel exactly what you mean."

BeastBoy was never the best at reading girls, but Raven was throwing him one curveball after another. He brushed his hair back and sighed with exasperation. "Then why are you crying? Whenever I sense that you might be sad or scared, it really bums me out. But to see you cry, and to think that I'm the cause of it? I can't think of anything that scares me more. Heck, I don't think _anything_ scares me as much as the idea of you being in pain. That's why I get all antsy and try to think of anything I might be able to do to help you, no matter what it is, even if it's a lame joke."

Raven leaned forward a bit, keeping her unblinking eyes on BeastBoy, studying him and the words he was saying. His pulse never deviated, and his eyes revealed no hidden agenda. So far as Raven could tell, he was being completely honest.

"That might be one of the sweetest thing you've ever said to me." Raven said, her voice calm again and her hands once more gripping the tea he had made her. "Thank you."

BeastBoy blushed a bit, but tried to keep focused. "Look, I'm sorry for what I said about you never getting sad. That was stupid, even for me. I should have used my head."

It was then that Raven got the strangest look on her face. For the first time in a while, Raven looked intrigued, almost curious. It was strange to see her switch from one intense state of mind to another so quickly.

"Do you want to make it up to me?" she asked.

BB wasn't prepared for _that_ question, but answered anyway. "Uh…sure. But how?"

"You can tell me the truth," Raven said, sitting cross-legged, facing BeastBoy with renewed enthusiasm and interest, "about what you've noticed over the last several months. I already know you've noticed a few different things, so don't deny them and just start from the top."

BeastBoy hesitated, looking from Raven to the window to his tea and back again. He seemed unsure about how to proceed, and sighed deeply. "It's…it's just kinda hard to explain…"

Raven watched as BeastBoy stalled for a minute or so, before she called him back to the task at hand. "I'm waiting…"

BeastBoy took another deep breath, but refused to look at Raven. If he did, he believed he wouldn't be able to continue; at least, not without a little nagging voice telling him that she thought he was as crazy as _he _thought he was.

"Nothing…boy, how do I say this…" BeastBoy said, scratching the back of his neck.

Raven remained still.

"Nothing…_moves _right." BeastBoy said, choosing his words the best he could.

Raven didn't quite understand, but kept listening. "Go on."

BeastBoy stared into his tea as he spoke, his words as ethereal and delicate as the steam from his mug. "From the day we saved that plane, and the people on it, I've noticed how everything around us—the people, the city, plants, the weather—began to behave in an unusual way. I still felt the heat from the sun, but it was never too intense. I still hear the words that people speak, but their voices are always foreign…alien. I still taste food, hear music, and enjoy all my free-time, but nothing ever seems…complete."

Raven looked on with genuine interest. "As if the world around you is moving though a new reality or temporal phase, or perhaps the earth itself is unbalanced."

BeastBoy looked a bit confused, but provided his own analogy. "It kinda feels like an earthquake, at least from an animal's point of view. Even if the center of the quake is hundreds of miles away, the sensation of shifting ground and wacky magnetic signals can really screw with an animal's perception of their environment. Tigers will halt in their tracks, butterflies will hover in mid-air, sharks will stop dead in the water…all because the world around them is suddenly different. That's the best way I can describe it."

"You sense that something is fundamentally wrong with the world?" Raven asked.

"More like there is something wrong with the world around me…around _us_." BeastBoy said. "Something I can't put my finger on, but it's definitely there."

Raven sighed a bit, smiling wryly. "Well, I can think of one really big attribute that no one seems to have noticed."

"What's that?"

"Peace," Raven said simply, looking at BeastBoy as if her statement had been obvious, "the extended period of peace that we've enjoyed for the past several months; none of it makes sense."

BeastBoy's mouth drooped visibly. "You've got a problem with peace?"

Raven gave him a dirty look and ignored his question. "In the past several months, how many times have you fought a villain?"

BeastBoy's face brightened and he raised a finger, but then thought better of it, and answered truthfully. "Not once."

"Foiled a bank-robbery?" Raven asked.

"None at all." BeastBoy admitted.

"Rescued a kitten from a tree?" Raven asked, opening her hands as she began to prove her point.

"I don't suppose it would count if I was the kitten, would it?" BB asked.

Raven shook her head. "And why do you suppose that is?"

"Well, if I got myself up in the tree in the first place," BeastBoy thought aloud, "I suppose it is kinda _my_ responsibility to get down again…"

"Not THAT, why do you suppose you haven't had to do any of the things I just listed?" Raven asked, exasperated to the point where she almost spilled her tea.

BeastBoy gave it a bit of thought. "Because…there haven't been any instances of the above to deal with?"

"Exactly." Raven said, slapping one of her knees. "Don't you think that's weird?"

"Well…I guess the city has been kinda quiet…" BeastBoy admitted.

"Quiet? Jump City used to have a _plethora_ of bad-guys for us to deal with," Raven said, gesturing in the direction of the city, "but it's been virtually silent for nearly half a year. I mean, _you've_ been here more often than any of us. Has there even been so much as a break-in or a house fire?"

BeastBoy felt a bit colder. "No. As a matter of fact, the prison on the outskirts of town just beefed up its security. I checked it out myself. The improvements were great, but the guards told me it wasn't really essential to the prison, since there have been no escape attempts of any kind in almost a year."

"The alarm hasn't gone off once since I was last here, has it?" Raven asked, already knowing the answer.

"No."

Raven nodded to indicate how strange she thought it was. "It's kinda spooky. I never use that word, but it fits; spooky."

BeastBoy seemed a bit resigned, but then abruptly brightened with a new thought. "But that isn't completely true! There are still problems with bad-guys; lots of them!"

"How so?"

BeastBoy looked far more confident now, and his eyes sparkled as a result. "Robin seems to do nothing _but _fight crime! It's all over the news and in the papers; every other day he's fighting a new mad scientist here or crushing the uprising of a megalomaniac there. The Justice League keeps him busy, and all he does with his free time is hang out with Starfire. In fact, she's almost always there after or during one of his missions, and sometimes lends a hand. The boy is _busy,_ to say the least!"

Much to BeastBoy's dismay, Raven sadly shook her head. Luckily, even though she certainly looked it, she didn't break out into tears again, if only because she knew it probably wouldn't help this time. "Tell me something; can you imagine a better situation for Robin to be in?"

"Better? How do you mean?" BeastBoy said, confused by the question.

"You said it yourself," Raven reminded the changeling, "that all he does is fight crime. Robin has this innate need to stop the wicked wherever they might be, no matter what the cost. Now look at him; he's one of the most highly decorated members of the J.L., next to the council itself. He protects the people, defeats criminals, and makes the world a better, safer place as a result. On top of that, Starfire is almost always in the right place at the right time, ready to help him out and spend as much time with him as possible. It seems…ideal, doesn't it?"

BeastBoy seemed to be getting it. He just didn't like it.

"He gets the best of both worlds." Raven explained. "Not only is he a champion of justice and finally recognized as one of the highest ranking Superheroes in the world, but he gets to bask in that glory with the one person he truly cares about. Fighting evil almost around the clock, a crime fighter ranked among the best of the best, spending almost all his free time with the woman he loves…I can't think of a better lifestyle for Robin. For lack of a better word, it's almost—"

"Perfect." BeastBoy said softly.

Raven was surprised at how sad BeastBoy sounded as he said that word. It was almost as if he hated it, wanted to spit it out, and yet was unsure of why it caused such a bad taste in his mouth.

Raven knew he was starting to understand. "Now do you know why I was crying?"

BeastBoy said nothing. He looked out at the storm, busying his eyes with the details of the falling sleet and rumbling clouds.

Raven pressed on. "There are just too many coincidences, too many 'perfect' situations. I've noticed them. You've noticed them. We can't ignore them…not any longer."

"So why did that make you cry?" BeastBoy asked, still unwilling to meet her gaze.

Raven felt that familiar lump in her throat begin to rise to her mouth, choking and constricting and painful. "I guess…I just feel sad. I feel sad about being sad."

"You're not making any sense." BeastBoy said, feeling what was coming next but doing his best to ignore its approach.

Raven tried to explain, but it was difficult to do with the pressure she felt on her head and heart. "I'm sad because I _can't_ express my sadness. I am. I hate that I can have these emotions but never show them the way that you can. And even though I'm showing it, right this second, it just makes me more miserable…because I know the truth…"

"Don't say it," BeastBoy hissed softly, placing a hand over his face, "just...don't say it."

"You know it too," Raven insisted, fresh tears dripping down her cheeks, "you know what I'm talking about; the strange awards, the sudden successes, the frightening sensations, your surge in height and…let's face it, _articulation_. My ability to express my feelings freely, Robin's ideal lifestyle, even Cyborg's quest for biological renewal…none of it fits…none of it makes sense…"

"Stop," BeastBoy said, covering his ears, still clutching his mug. His heartbeat was loud in his ears, further enhanced by the wind and thunder from the storm. They seemed to be pulsing in tandem, increasing in volume and intensity, one playing off the other with a symbiotic pulse, "_please stop…_"

"I'm crying because I know that I _can't _cry, and that I probably never will," Raven said, moving closer, practically shouting at BeastBoy so as to make him listen, "because I'm not supposed to be _able_ to. The only reason I can is because in this world, this reality, this _universe_...anything we want is ours. EVERYTHING we want is ours; handed to us like gifts from heaven."

"NO…" BeastBoy said, shutting his eyes.

"But they aren't real; your growth, Robin's utopian life, my tears…none of them are real," Raven whispered, her face anguished but her voice strong. "This world…_isn't real!_"

"_**NO!**_" BeastBoy shouted despairingly, standing to his full height, turning and hurling his mug as hard as he could.

_**CRASSSH!**_

BeastBoy and Raven froze. Although Raven had not expected BeastBoy to throw the mug, she had expected the shattering and spraying of liquid that would follow. BeastBoy had expected it too, and while the exploding mud had certainly been loud, there was a strange absence of any following din.

Both titans turned.

In unison, their eyes widened, and their blood froze.

It hung about six feet above the ground; no more, no less. The shards of the earthen container were splintering outwards like the spines of a porcupine, jagged and gnarled. The individual pieces seemed to open outwards like the petals of a flower, blasting apart upon the thick window it had collided with. The tea, still hot, was sprayed upon the hardened material like a blood-spatter, streaking outwards with green-brown fingers of liquid. Steam still rose from the scalding material.

The only problem with all of this was the scene itself; the mug was frozen in place, having ceased to move or fall upon impacting the window.

BeastBoy looked to Raven. His face was a mix of dread and surprise. "Did you just…?"

Raven shook her head, her eyes still teary but her face suddenly awestruck. "It wasn't me."

It looked almost pretty; like an ice-sculpture or a living diorama. The tea itself caught the dirty light pressing through the windows, and the pieces of the mug were still shiny were the tea had touched it. The handle still clung to a chunk of the pottery, and had halted in space just an inch from the window. It most certainly would have shattered as well. Instead, it too hung in place in the suddenly eerie silence of the tower.

"Definitely not normal," BeastBoy said, peering a bit closer, "and we've seen some pretty messed-up stuff."

"I don't think I've ever seen anything like _that_ before." Raven said, pointing her finger.

At first, BB was confused, because Raven wasn't pointing at the mug. He straightened, followed her finger, and felt his jaw nearly unhinge from his skull.

There must have been millions of them. They were small, delicate, almost incandescent and looked as fragile as tissue paper. The window was filled with them, almost as if a mountain had formed in the fifty seconds that had elapsed since BeastBoy performed his first suspended-object illusion. BeastBoy and Raven could not only see through them, but beyond them, into the open space that contained hundreds upon hundreds of millions of the same delicate objects.

"This is…beautiful." Raven said, standing and walking towards the window. "None of this is possible, of course, but still; it's beautiful."

"I gave up on defining 'possible' a long time ago," BeastBoy said, touching the cold glass, "it just makes my head hurt."

The storm seemed to have paused; literally. No clouds moved. No thunder rumbled. The multitudes of falling snowflakes were stationary, keeping their positions in the air with perfect stillness. Had this been a photograph, the snowflakes would have been seen as rushing by, maybe blurred in the background. In this instance, they seemed to be suspended in a crystal clear gelatin, comfortably resting in a vacuum.

"That was close." Raven said as she looked up.

"What was?" BeastBoy asked, following suit.

BeastBoy flinched as he beheld the largest lightening-bolt he had ever seen. It hung in the air, just as the rest of the storm, in absolute silence and stillness. The huge arch of electrical energy was careening towards the tower, curving and bending like a blue-white vine. BeastBoy found it strange to see the bolt from this angle, because it looked very three-dimensional, unlike the flat flashes of light and sound that he was so used to seeing, either from far away or on TV.

"Whatever this is, it isn't a local occurrence." Raven said, slowly stepping closer to her shape-shifting friend. "I can feel it. It's as if a lull in time has occurred, and it seems to encapsulate everything, for as far as my senses can reach."

"Trigon?" BeastBoy asked softly, hoping he was just being paranoid.

"Unlikely." Raven said, causing BeastBoy to sigh with relief. "If it were, the mark of Scath would have begun to etch its way across my skin, and I my powers would flare up violently. This isn't the work of my father."

"Then who?" BeastBoy said, looking beyond the immense cavalcade of snow-flurries and out onto the equally frozen sea. "Other than Trigon, I can't think of anybody powerful enough to stop…EVERYTHING. We don't know anyone who can pull this off!"

…_**NO…BUT I KNOW YOU…**_

It was everywhere; sneaking up from between the couch cushions, peaking from behind the doors, smiling from within the pots and pans in the kitchen. It covered their skin and played with their hair. It touched their shoulders and stole the breath from their lungs. It saturated every pore, and yet it made both titans feel lighter than air.

It also made them both shake with a haunting sense of recognition.

"That _voice…_" they whispered, for fear that it might hear them.

Raven noticed it first. She thought it was a trick of the light, but soon realized that, out beyond the sea of hovering snowflakes, silent lightening and frozen waves…something was moving.

"It's coming this way…" BeastBoy said, catching the same sight.

Both titans backed away from the window, ever so slowly, as an orb of light, no bigger than a softball, approached the tower. It seemed to absorb the snowflakes in its path as it noiselessly soared through the air. It never grew brighter, only clearer and more vibrant. With childlike apprehension, both teen warriors watched as the orb phased through the thick glass of the window, leaving not a hole or even the faintest scuff; one second, it was out among the snow, and the next, it was indoors.

Raven beheld the curious object cautiously, never straying too far from BeastBoy's side. He did the same, knowing that, should something about this encounter suddenly go south, they would be safer if they stayed closer to one another; better to be back to back than corned or against a wall.

BeastBoy whispered softly to Raven so as to not inadvertently appear threatening to the intruder. "I hope it comes in peace…"

Raven scowled at him, but still made a diplomatic gesture; she'd had months of practice, and knew she would have to put all that she had learned into action now. "You say that you know us. We do not know you. May I ask who you are?"

The orb bobbed in mid air, rocking from side to side like a child who was bored. Raven wasn't sure if the analogy applied to a floating sphere of light, but it seemed apt at the time.

…_**WE HAVE MET BEFORE…MANY TIMES…**_

The voice was still all-encompassing and vast, yet subtle and unthreatening. Raven had little time to contemplate where she might have heard the voice in the past, because the ball of light suddenly began to melt.

BeastBoy gasped as the sphere began to expand almost exponentially, flowing as liquid gold onto the floor, yet neither burning nor altering the carpet. The illumination was powerful, but it didn't cast any shadows that Raven could see. Instead, the light seemed to solidify, hardening into a shape. Had the air not been clear and her eyes open, Raven would have sworn that the light was pouring itself into a mold, suspended in mid-air.

After one final strobe of energy, the light faded, and BeastBoy and Raven found themselves in the presence of a very familiar face.

"Mayor…_Hacker_?" Raven said, so amazed that her voice almost failed her.

Indeed, the mayor of Jump City, the man who, many months before, had bestowed upon the titans the most copious of gifts and acclaim, was now standing in their living room. His round body and gentle eyes hadn't changed or aged a day since the plane incident, and his smile was just as genuine.

"You're freakin' _kidding _me…" BeastBoy said, thunderstruck.

"No, in fact I am not," said the portly man, smiling broadly, "but of course, you've met me many times since I used this form. You just didn't know it."

The rotund gentleman suddenly lit up like a Christmas-tree, his body again morphing into sphere of light, many times the size of the one that had originally invaded the tower. After a brief reshuffle of the energy-globe, another body appeared before the awestruck teens.

BeastBoy didn't recognize the person who stood before him now. Unfortunately, Raven did.

"Your holiness!" Raven exclaimed, covering her mouth from the shock.

Much to Raven's disbelief, it was, in fact, the exalted holy leader with whom Raven had conversed and meditated with on many occasions: Tenzin Gyatso.

Or, as the _Gelug Sect_and the rest of the world acknowledged him to be, the Dalai Llama.

"Hello again, Raven."

The robe, the beads, the glasses…all of it was there. Raven would know that face no matter where she saw it, and while she didn't subscribe to the same faith as this man, his teachings, and the teachings of his predecessors, were revered the world over, even on Azarath. Raven had the deepest respect for him, and showed it by bowing on one knee.

"I didn't know it was you, sir. I never sensed a change or manifestation of something otherworldly around you…I had no idea." Raven said, doing her best not to mumble or stutter in front of the man.

BeastBoy watched all this and, not wanting to be rude (and really not knowing any better), dropped to his knees and smacked his palms on the floor, bowing his forehead to the shag-carpet. He looked up with a palpable nervousness, and attempted to speak.

"Oh _great _and _powerful _holy-man from a land far, far away…uh…how ya doin'?" BeastBoy asked, smiling like a fool.

The man laughed deeply, spooking Raven out of her reverie, causing her to look up. BeastBoy's eyebrows jumped, still unsure of what to do or say.

"Respectful as always, Raven," the aged man said, laughing again, "and still funny to a fault, BeastBoy. Unfortunately, this is not my true form either. It is just one of many."

For the third time, a molten sphere of energy replaced the man standing before the duo, sizzling away like melted butter. Raven stood slowly, watching as the man she had once believed to be Buddhist Nobel Peace Prize winner glowed with an ethereal light, slowly assuming the form of someone else.

Only this time, it was BeastBoy's turn to drop his jaw. "I think I need to lie down…"

"You ARE laying down." said a familiar Latin voice.

Raven noticed that Jezebel—or rather, the shape of Jezebel assumed by this entity—was much cleaner and coherent than the one that BeastBoy had kicked out of the tower an hour earlier. She was still strangely dressed and her hair was a mess, but her voice was stronger, clearer. Obviously this whoever-it-was could very easily assume the mannerisms of several different people; how else could it portray one of the most renowned people on the planet one day, and this health-nut head-case the next?

"You ate my food, slept in my home, watched my TV…and you're not even a vegan?" BeastBoy said, disappointment mixing with his disbelief.

"No. Sorry, BeastBoy," said the young teen, smiling dolefully at the green boy, "but, if it makes a difference, all those times we had, even that weird night were we cleaned out that juice-parlor and the thing with Rico and his castanets…I had a really fun time."

Raven caught Jezebels attention by flipping her cloak back sharply, causing it to snap. "How could you have spent so much time with BeastBoy and still hosted so many different functions and meetings around the world with me? And just how many people HAVE you falsified yourself as?"

The entity/Jezebel looked at Raven with a strange gaze of admiration. "Always straight to the point, eh Raven? I was warned about that when I volunteered for this Chrono-Link; you hate wasting time."

"I also don't like it when people avoid my questions." Raven said, uncomfortable again.

"Warned? Chrono-_what?_" BeastBoy said, shaking his head. "What the heck are you talking about?"

Jezebel smiled softly, speaking to both titans this time. "I've assumed exactly three hundred and fifty-six different forms over the past several months; each one specifically targeted for interaction with you two. Chances are you've seen me in several unassuming roles and never knew it was me. At least, that was the idea."

That threw Raven for a loop. "Three hundred and…? Wait, do you mean in total?"

Jezebel smiled again. "Very clever, Raven; no. Three hundred and fifty-six _apiece_."

BeastBoy wasn't sure what to think. This wasn't unusual for him, but in this instance, he felt even more befuddled. What was more, during this entire charade, the tea mug continued to perform its floating act, as did the snowstorm outside. All of it was a bit much to take in.

But an idea came to him. "You were…keeping tabs on us or something?"

The Jezebel-shaped entity looked at BeastBoy directly this time, nodding slowly. "You could call it that, yes."

"Why?" Raven asked. "Why follow and perform for us? Why keep us in the dark? Why stop time and come to us _now_?"

"That's a lot of questions," Jezebel said, putting one hand on her hip. "Which do you want answered first?"

"Mine." BeastBoy said, stepping forward a bit. "That…ball-of-light thingy: is that your true form?"

Jezebel shook her head, the curls falling over one eye. "No. And neither is this body."

"You've watched and learned practically everything about us for nearly half a year," Raven said as she folded her arms, "and we don't exactly appreciate the secrecy or the captivity. So I think we should learn a few things about you before we continue."

"Such as?" the entity asked.

"Who…_what _are you?" BeastBoy asked flatly. "Show us what you really are."

Jezebel looked from one teen to another, noting their stolid posture. Her own composure seemed agitated and nervous all of a sudden, as if she/he/it were unsure of something. "I don't have to show you any more than I already have, and probably shouldn't have shown you this much."

"Fine," Raven said, assuming a meditative position as she floated into the air, "but we're through being toyed with. Either show us who and what you are, or leave. Regardless, the two of us aren't going to continue to interact with this reality for as long as we are kept in the dark; you'll have to find your entertainment elsewhere."

BeastBoy nodded his head in agreement just before he morphed into a large snapping-turtle. The five-foot long reptile pulled his legs and head into the hard, scaly shell upon his back, disappearing from sight. For all intents and purposes, he had shut out the faux-world around him.

Raven closed her eyes and began to chant her mantra, keeping herself centered and preoccupied. She knew that she could do this for days on end, if necessary, and was fully prepared to do so; she rarely bluffed.

Apparently, she wouldn't have to.

"If you insist," said the young woman, "it will be done."

But by the time Raven had opened her eyes at the sound of the girl's voice, she had already begun to change.

The tower seemed to be under attack, for a great moan of straining metal could be heard throughout the tall building. It was as if the structure were being battered by hurricane-force winds, twisted from side to side like a cork struggling to pull itself free from a bottle of wine. Though the storm outside remained still and the crumbled cup of tea was stationary, both titans could have sworn that the Earth itself was preparing to swallow the tower whole. They looked at the girl for some kind of explanation, but found yet another conundrum.

The young woman seemed to be shattering. Her skin, hair and clothing began to crack and split, as if her body were a mere egg shell encapsulating a massive bird. From these jagged cracks, beams of a dark, almost oil-colored light began to pour into the room, snaking upwards and outwards as magnificent coils of energy. Had the emanations not been pulsing with incredible power, Raven would have guessed them to be wisps of smoke, engulfing the young girl in a sinister mist.

"I've got a we're-in-deep-crud feeling about this…" BeastBoy said, having popped his head out and slowly de-morphed. His eyes settled upon the girl, or what was left of her, and refused to blink.

A breeze was forming in the room, which now felt all too small for the events taking place within it. It kicked up behind Raven and started to swirl inward, tossing her hair and robes about her body. BeastBoy sat forward on his knuckles, feeling increasingly uneasy at the sight of so much energy being whipped around Raven and himself. He would spring forward to defend himself if necessary, but he would be lying if he'd told himself that he didn't find all of this a bit fascinating, in a macabre sort of what.

As the wind reached its apex, Raven felt the true intra-phase of power from the entity. The potential of this…force…locked away beneath layers of carefully constructed facades of deceit, was slowly revealing itself. In a few more moments, Raven knew that she would come face to face with the real deal, and when she did, she wasn't sure if or how she would even be able to defend herself, should this thing decide to flex its 'muscles'. For now, it was a waiting game; but the tension she felt would not ease.

In a split second of contracted mass and energy, every coil of power was suddenly sucked back into the splintering form of the young girl, as if she had inhaled deeply. The wind ceased, as did any noise within the room. For a moment, the girl who had once been Jezebel stood in complete silence, and looked at the two titans. She seemed to study them, appraise them as a home-maker might look at two pieces of meat, just before she picks the one she will buy and cook on her grill.

It was unsettling.

A final concussion of power, and every shard that comprised the entities body was thrown apart, sending shrapnel in every direction at once. Had she been an actual explosive, the titans would have been cut to ribbons, just before the golden light within this creature blinded them both.

Raven felt her breath return, and slowly opened her eyes. Her arms had instinctively crossed in front of her, attempting to shield herself from whatever had happened. But now, it seemed an unnecessary gesture. She lowered her arms, and watched BeastBoy, who was now at her side, slowly rise to his feet. His body was relaxed, but not nearly as much as his face; it looked like it was about to fall off his skull. Raven looked as well, and instantly understood why.

She was over six feet tall. That was the first thing the titans noticed. She stood above them in the same way that Cyborg had in the past, tall and impressive. She cast no shadow, but then, how does a shadow cast a shadow? For that was the second thing the titans noticed: her garb, or clothing, depending on how you looked at it, appeared to be deeper shade of onyx than anything they had seen before. It wasn't just dark, it was sunken; as if light itself could not escape the tremendous depths of this outfit. Had her dainty, pale feet not been sticking out from beneath the length of this dress/robe, both titans would have sworn that she was not human at all, but slice of dark matter, protruding from the floor of the room.

But she did, indeed, seem to be human. Raven admired her dark hair, long and lustrous. It didn't seem to hang from her head so much as flow out of it, pouring over her shoulders like so much blue-black ink. It seemed to disappear into her clothing, and Raven could not tell exactly how long it was. But it complimented her snow-white face greatly, and while it appeared thick, it seemed no heavier than a breath.

BeastBoy couldn't look away from this woman's eyes. A host of descriptions came to mind, but all of them seemed lacking. The one thing these eyes DID remind BeastBoy of, however, was a feeling. The last time her had felt what he was experiencing now, he had just left the Doom Patrol, and joined with the Titans. That living, earthen feeling of a growing plant or blooming flower, mixed with gentle hues of optimism and excitement; that was the best way he could describe it.

The one thing BeastBoy and Raven could both silently agree upon was the fact that neither of them had ever seen anyone like this before. They may as well have been a pair of Neanderthals who just happened to stumble across an intergalactic spaceship; they had no clue of how to proceed.

The woman finally spoke, her hair playing about her head as if caught in a slight up-draft as her ruby-red lips began to move. "Satisfied?"

Raven was the first to shake her head and come back down to Earth from whatever orbit she had just been placed in. Her head swam from the experience, but she managed a complete sentence.

"This is…what you truly are?" she asked, stumbling over her words.

"Yes," said the woman, her voice still strong, but gentle upon the ears of the two teens, "this is me."

BeastBoy hit the side of his head with the flat of his palm, as if to dislodge something. In truth, he was making sure his head was on straight. "I gotta admit…I wasn't expecting…well, _this_."

The woman shuttered slightly, and her feet slowly lifted from the ground, making not a sound as she levitated into the air. She hung in mid leap, and took long, resonating breaths, reminding Raven of the sound a wave makes after it crashes and is pulled back into the sea. It was almost therapeutic.

But Raven knew she had to press on, or a lot of loose ends would remain untied. "Clearly you are a being of great power. I can sense that much."

"Power?" the woman repeated as she smiled, curving those porcelain cheeks to reveal large, shinny teeth. "Yes, I suppose that is one way of saying it."

"But she's still just as vague." BeastBoy said, raising an eyebrow.

Raven would have scolded him, but he was right; the woman's answer to Raven's question was precisely calculated to give them _some_ information, but at the same time, allude to the fact that there was a lot more that went unsaid. She pushed on.

"How would you describe it then?" Raven asked.

The woman tilted her head to one side, her smile decreasing to a smirk. "Power is a very general term, and usually derogatory in nature. If you were to say I was someone of great influence, insight or wisdom…that might be more appropriate."

Raven looked and felt a bit perplexed, but she didn't miss a beat, and interjected before BeastBoy had the chance. "You forgot modest."

The woman suddenly apologized, looking down as if embarrassed, smiling softly. "I'm sorry. I'm told that I inherited my grandfather's bravado. Thankfully, that was only thing I got from _him_."

The spite with which she said that last word gave Raven and BeastBoy a bunch of clues, the most obvious of which being 'don't mention extended family'. After all, they wanted to keep this as diplomatic as possible.

"It hardly shows." Raven said, easing the tension a bit. It seemed to work.

"I'm sure you have many questions…" the woman said in her gentle, yet rolling alto voice.

"That's the understatement of the millennium." BeastBoy cracked.

"Where shall I begin?" the woman asked, assuming what appeared to be a lounging posture as she hovered, as if leaning against an invisible bar.

"Your name," BeastBoy blurted, trying to sound commanding and business-like, "and what you're doing here, with us."

The woman, having been presented a question so directly, appeared to brighten. She leaned towards the changeling, keeping her exposed shoulders square and her chin up, looking at BeastBoy like a child at a fish in a bowl.

"My name—or rather, my given name—is Eleison," she said, looking intently at BeastBoy for a moment, before turning her gaze to Raven, "but my mother always called me her little _Spero._"

"Latin? Old Greek?" Raven asked, her face scrunched for a moment. Her scripture and intonation was very sharp, but at the moment, she was drawing a blank; her conversational Latin and Greek were a bit rusty.

"Yes, both of them." The woman named Eleison confirmed. "My father apparently wanted to name me after a Japanese cartoon character, by mother wouldn't have it. It's probably just as well; I never did like interactive media as much as he did. You may call me Spero."

Raven gave up trying to remember her translations, and simply continued where she left off. "Ms. Spero…"

"Just Spero, please," the woman insisted, "there's no need for such formality."

"Well…Spero…we now know who you are. Forgive my impertinence, but we still don't know _what _you are." Raven said, as delicately as she could. BeastBoy didn't follow suit, unfortunately.

"Yeah, and what's with the universal-pause-button thing? Did you have to freak us out to get our attention?" BeastBoy asked, a bit frustrated with the lack of information he was getting from this woman.

Both women stared at him, one a bit surprised by his candidness, and the other considering whether or not she should skin the changeling alive. He stood his ground, for what little that was worth, and seemed unafraid; though his own bravado was only skin deep.

The woman known as Spero closed her eyes, and gave a half smile. Raven watched carefully, looking for any signs of displeasure.

None came.

"It's a fair question," Spero said, lifting her head slightly, floating further into the air, "considering how I just appeared out of nowhere immediately afterwards."

Raven moved a bit closer to BeastBoy, but he couldn't tell if she was doing this to see Spero more clearly, or if she was simply moving within swatting range of his head. Either way, he was on guard as Spero spoke.

"I manipulated the space and matter within this realm, essentially halting all movement and force down to the subatomic level. Everything around you is in perfect synchronism; there is no flux, no decay." Spero explained.

"Once more, with subtitles, please?" BeastBoy said, smiling sheepishly.

"She froze everything completely, to the point where the world around us is unable to change. Time no longer moves, so nothing else does either." Raven said, a bit exasperated.

"Yes," Spero continued, "and I did it because I thought it necessary for both of you to understand just how right Raven was when she made her 'discovery', as it were. Besides, without your investment in this world, it cannot continue to function."

BeastBoy's ears twitched. His glare intensified, and he addressed Spero with much more chutzpah than before. "What do you mean by 'investment'?"

"I must admit, I'm curious as to what you meant by that as well." Raven said, squaring off with the floating woman, eyeing her suspiciously. "And exactly what discovery did I make that seized your attention so completely?"

Spero looked at the two titans, their demeanor and attitudes much different from when she had first revealed herself. Clearly, they weren't going to be satisfied with half-answers and segue's anymore.

"Perhaps I should start from the beginning," Spero said, her stance now stiff and commanding, "but first, let us get a bit more comfortable."

Spero snapped her fingers, and the room suddenly…altered. The couch spun on a dime, shooting towards the titans before they had a chance to react. It knocked them off their feet and onto their bottoms, eliciting a few surprised yelps, but otherwise, causing no physical harm to the pair of teens. Nothing else within the room stirred, and the storm held itself in place outside the panoramic windows. The couch was the only thing that had moved; of that, the titans were sure. They looked at each other in surprise and wonder, and then back at Spero, who had finally floated back to the floor, her cavern-like darkness pouring around her body as she folded her legs beneath her.

"Better?" she asked.

She was procrastinating; she knew it and they knew it. The stern look on the teen's faces was enough to send that message. They only stared, and listened to the noiseless room.

Spero had no choice.

"By your calendar, I was born in the year 2025. My parents noticed my 'talents' as a young girl, and encouraged me to explore my abilities...and to make use of them. By 2037, I was the premiere student of Incantation and Mediation in the world, and I was subsequently drafted into the newly formed Coalition of Metaphysical Application, or COMA, for short. By the time I was seventeen, my talents had reached fruition, and I was granted a chair on the COMA Board of Directors, and granted all the privileges therein. My life was, for lack of a better word, a success story; I wanted for nothing."

The teens remained seated, looking at Spero intently. They seemed to have absorbed everything, but Spero spoke a bit more slowly as she continued.

"I was assigned to the Department of Chronological Observation when I turned twenty-one. It seemed like another desk job, and didn't really interest me all that much. Other people in the Coalition seemed to have very fulfilling, exciting positions, and I outranked nearly all of them. I couldn't figure out why I had been placed in what seemed like such a dead-end job. It didn't make sense."

"Like any of this makes _sense…_" BeastBoy whispered to himself.

"Shush!" Raven snapped, keeping her attention on Spero.

"But about six months in, I finally received an assignment. It was highly classified and available for my eyes only. I wasn't sure what to think." Spero said, shrugging slightly.

"What was the assignment?" Raven asked, crossing her own legs beneath her.

Spero visibly hesitated, and looked to the left. For someone of such immense power, she seemed to shrink, almost out of fear or embarrassment. It took her a few seconds to respond.

"A…Temporal Cleft, of some magnitude, was detected by the Sages working under me in my department," Spero said, searching for the right words, "and the overall Pitch throughout the time-stream had been drastically altered. As a result, ripples, or echoes, if you will, were sent in every direction, both backwards and forwards in time."

"So…echoes equal…bad?" BeastBoy guessed, scratching his chin.

Spero smiled at that, enjoying BeastBoy's befuddlement. "Yes, in a manner of speaking. Such a significant Cleft could only mean one thing: something, or someone, was missing from the general flow of the time stream. Given the relative harmonics of the Cleft, it suggested an untimely death."

Raven interrupted her with a question. "But people around the world die all the time without any apparent warning or reason. If your system is as sensitive as you say, wouldn't every unscheduled death be cause for alarm?"

Spero raised an eyebrow so fluidly it almost looked as if it had detached from her forehead all together. "Clever, Raven. But no."

"Why not?" BeastBoy asked.

"Please do not misinterpret what I am saying; all life is precious," Spero said, gesturing with open hands to show her sincerity, "but not all life-forms shape the world as significantly as others. For example, if Jesus of Nazareth had never been born, or died earlier in his life before his crucifixion, Christianity may very well _have _grown and spread across the globe, the changes in the timeline notwithstanding. But it would be a _**very**_ different religion. It would have attracted a different set of followers, proclaimed a different set of values and established itself in a very different manner. Now, for all we know, these changes could have been for the better; who is to say? But that one change to history would reshape the planet, and the modern world. Different wars would have been fought, certain other important historical figures may never have been born and civilization may have embraced an entirely separate mindset about who they are and where they are going in life."

"Hence why your department was created," Raven said, putting a few more pieces together, "correct?"

"Yes," Spero said, "to preserve the essential elements of time, so as to insure that the modern world develops into what it is now; or, from your perspective, the modern world of the year 2047."

BeastBoy felt a bit uncomfortable with just how huge this situation really was. It seemed daunting, but at the same time, a bit sinister: What did all of this have to do with Raven and himself?

"The death must have been a big deal," BeastBoy said, following up his thought, "if it screwed around with the time-stream that badly."

"Indeed," Spero said, her face solemn again, "more so than we first realized. We initially thought that a temporal-inversion would correct the problem, if properly executed. But the damage was severe. A direct incision was deemed necessary."

"Meaning they had to get their hands dirty." Raven clarified.

"I know what she meant!" BeastBoy fumed.

"When I first approached the problem area, I was assigned to ascertain the situation alone." Spero continued, ignoring the bickering teens. "For whatever reason, they sent me into the past to judge for myself what needed to be done. It was very unorthodox, but I conceded."

"And what did you find out?" Raven asked, ignoring BeastBoy as he stuck out his tongue.

Spero did that thing with her body again: seemingly pulling into herself, like a shrinking violet. She became less formidable, but it was a controlled action; her eyes betrayed nothing, even if her body said volumes.

Raven noticed the strange constriction around Spero's milky neck. It looked as if she were swallowing, hard.

Raven put it together. "You knew this person. Didn't you?"

BeastBoy shut up in mid raspberry, his tongue still protruding. He looked back at Spero, and noticed the same odd composure of the women's face and body. Raven had struck a chord, and it was a big one by the look of it.

Spero took a deep, hollow breath, the kind a person takes in an attempt to hold back tears. Though no sadness appeared on the women's face, it seemed very apparent in her voice.

"Persons, actually." Spero clarified, her hair still dancing around her head, though less energetically now. "I knew both of them…very well."

Raven felt the tiniest trickle of sorrow flow from the woman. It collected in a small pool just beneath her body, and seemed to boil up into regret and anger. BeastBoy's instincts and animal intuition were probably telling him that Spero was experiencing stress. But to Raven, that tiny pool seethed like acid, strong and corrosive. It felt like it would eat through the floor with little difficulty.

"Which is why you were chosen for the mission, right?" BeastBoy said, his voice soft and apologetic.

"It was a highly unusual and, for the most part, unauthorized procedure. Bringing in a third party to investigate the death of someone who was close to them in life…" Spero said, her eyes not focusing on anything for a moment as her voice grew in intensity. "It just isn't done that way. It isn't supposed to, anyway."

Raven pressed on as delicately as possible, not wanting to loose momentum. "They must have had a reason. Your department wouldn't have sent you if it weren't absolutely necessary, would they?"

Spero smiled in response, but it was an angry, sarcastic grin. "When men believe themselves to be the weavers of fate, policy becomes nothing more than a commodity; one that isn't as valuable as convenience. They could have found someone else."

"You were unsuited for the job?" Raven asked.

"No," Spero said, her face softening like melting ice-cream, "if anything, I was the most capable person they could have chosen to…mitigate the circumstances of this cleft. That didn't make it any easier."

BeastBoy tilted his head as a confused canine might do. "Who were these people?"

Spero's head jerked back slightly at the question, but she handled her response well. "They were of particular importance, not only to me, but to the world I grew up in…and to each other. That is all you need to know."

There was a warning in her response that was all too apparent to Raven. It wasn't threatening so much as finalistic: clearly, she wouldn't give any further information about them.

"So what happened, exactly?" BeastBoy asked.

Spero composed herself a bit, and continued. "I tried going even further back in time, to different points spread out over the last five days before their deaths. By manipulating local suspension phenomenon, I was able to give hints, clues, suggestions…anything I could think of to keep these two out of harms way as much as possible. And they listened, for the most part, and acted on what they heard. I had been very thorough, and I thought my mission was done. So, I returned to the point where they had supposedly died. But by the time the temporal frequencies were properly aligned, it was already too late; my multiple incisions, _along _with a full inversion, had both proven useless. They were already dead…murdered."

BeastBoy's ears drooped. He felt the air fall still around his body. Spero had said it without blinking, but BeastBoy felt his body shiver from the idea of loosing someone he loved like that. "I'm…sorry…"

"We both are." Raven said, genuinely sorrowful at hearing the news. "Every one of the titans has lost someone to them at some point in their lives. I'm sure the blow was difficult to bare."

The titans noticed how Spero seemed to glow a bit. It was the strangest sight, seeing someone suddenly illuminate like that. They became more curious, and looked even closer at their mysterious host.

"In my world and time, 'Dead' is a relative term." Spero said, shifting as she sat upon her legs and the ever deepening blackness that was her dress. "The actual sight of these two dead people was deeply unsettling. But it only lasted a moment."

BeastBoy was more confused about what Spero was saying than angry at her apparent apathy. "What did you do?"

Spero gestured to the cup that was still shattered and hanging in mid-explosion against the window. As the titans looked, they saw little beads of light encircle the cup like the webbing of a spider. The light then pulled the cup, shards and all, away from the window, and towards the three sitting in the middle of the room.

Raven watched as the shattered cup hovered above her head for a moment, before resting a few inches above Spero's upturned palm. The shape had not been changed, and not one fleck of pottery was out of place. It looked like a post-modernist sculpture.

"When you look at this tea-cup BeastBoy, what do you see?" Spero asked, letting the object in question spin slowly in her hand.

BeastBoy attempted to sound philosophical and worldly, cocking an eyebrow like a Rhodes-scholar. "Let's see…a manifestation of my inner yearning to be intertwined with the universe and all life therein?"

Raven grasped the bridge of her nose as if she had a sinus infection and closed her eyes, shaking her head. "Nicely put, Thoreau."

Spero laughed a bit; the sound reminded BeastBoy of something like a combination of falling glass and wind-chimes. "That isn't quite what I meant. I asked what you _see._"

Raven decided to field a guess. "Some times the simplest solution to a problem is the correct one."

"And that would be?" Spero asked.

"A destroyed masonry cup, filled with tea." Raven said.

"Interesting." Spero said. "You said the cup was destroyed. Was anything else damaged or destroyed?"

"Besides my sense of reality?" BeastBoy said.

Raven ignored BB and thought the question over very carefully. Having found nothing else to add to her original answer, she shook her head. "No."

"Why is that?" Spero asked, smiling more readily now.

"Because only the cup was destroyed," Raven said, finally understanding the analogy, "not the tea!"

BeastBoy fell back on the couch in frustration. "I can go make myself a sandwich if you two are going to play word games with each other."

Raven turned, looking almost jovial, and pointed towards the cup. "Regardless of whether the cup was destroyed or not, the tea inside it is still _tea_. It doesn't matter if it is sitting in a pot or splashed across the floor, the tea has not been changed, except perhaps in position. Understand?"

BeastBoy looked puzzled, and wasn't sure how to proceed, but he did try to put it into context. "So…what, these people that Spero was talking about are…just tea without cups?"

"Exactly!" Raven said.

"Boy, I'm glad _you _know what I'm talking about, 'cause I haven't the faintest freakin' idea." BeastBoy said, rubbing his head.

Spero laughed that strange, ethereal laugh again. It made the inside of BeastBoy's ears tingle, like he had fallen asleep upside-down or something. It wasn't unpleasant, just…weird.

"Figures; the one person I can make laugh, and she has complete control over time, space and matter." BeastBoy thought aloud.

Spero stopped, placing a finger to her lips. "I'm sorry; I was experiencing a very palpable reoccurrence of memory and sensation. I believe you call it nostalgia."

'_Nostalgia?' _Raven thought to herself, keeping her mouth shut. _'Why would she phrase it like that?' _She couldn't be sure, but knew it had to be of some importance. She locked away that little gem in her mind for later.

"What did you do once you discovered your dead…comrades?" Raven asked, trying to remain on subject and be as delicate as possible.

All signs of happiness left Spero's face. She was all business again, and the tone of her voice said as much. "Their bodies had been almost completely destroyed. By the time I accomplished a resonance suspension, there wasn't much to work with. However, matter restoration being one of my forte's, I was able to find a new vessel for the 'tea' of these murdered individuals. They were poured back into new…cups, if you will. Their lives were spared."

At this, Spero seemed to 'will' the cup fragments back together. The tea and pottery that had been hanging above her hand in its shattered state suddenly congealed into one, solid object again. There was a slight scratching sound as the earthenware was reassembled in mid air, the tea still inside its boundaries. By the time it was finished, neither Raven nor BeastBoy would have been able to tell that the cup had been in fifteen pieces a minute earlier; the cup looked perfect, and the tea inside it was still steaming hot.

"You gave them new bodies?" BeastBoy asked, observing the steam as it coiled out from the cup

"Yes, as well as a full reconstruction of the knowledge they used to perform their…unique, abilities." Spero confirmed, a bit more brightly. "It seemed like the mission was a success."

Raven's eyebrows jumped. "Seemed?"

Spero must have recognized her slip of the tongue, for her mouth shut quickly, her teeth clicking loudly as she did. She was quiet for a while after that, making the room feel a bit stale.

"Would you care to fill us in?" BeastBoy asked after a few minutes.

Spero seemed hesitant, which, for someone as powerful as she seemed to be, was awkward in both appearance and portrayal. Imagine a lion sitting before two mice, playing nervously with its paws, unsure of how to proceed. The two titans were feeling a bit uncomfortable in the prolonged silence.

Raven ventured a guess. "Did something go wrong?"

Spero shook her head. "No. The procedure went flawlessly."

"Well then for crying out loud, tell us why you're acting like I did when I frazzled Cy's mainframe." BeastBoy blurted. "You look like you were just caught stealing money from your parents."

To both titans surprise, the cup that had been hanging in mid air for all this time suddenly fell from its invisible perch. It plummeted six feet and collided with the carpeted floor, shattering for the second time in one day. All three watched as the wet pieces of the cup skipped and slide everywhere, tinkling loudly when they ran into each other. The tea stained the carpet instantly, since no intervention was made to 'freeze' it in place this time.

BeastBoy winced. "Was it something I said?"

Raven narrowed her eyes. It wasn't clear what had jostled Spero initially, but whatever it was, Raven knew a concealment situation when she saw one. Something had visibly shaken this woman enough to make her momentarily loose her grasp on an element—albeit a small element—of the world which she had supposed 'complete' control over.

"Unfortunately," Spero continued, "the one part of this situation that was beyond any of my abilities, beyond all Coda Restoration, apparently, is memory recall."

BeastBoy leaned a bit closer. "What does that mean, exactly?"

Spero closed her eyes, and continued in a somber tone. "In truth, both of these individuals were as physically complete as they were going to be. But memories tend to degrade quickly after life is ceased. Muscle memory is one thing. But the recollection of thoughts, dreams, behavior, wishes, personality…that is something entirely different."

"So what did you do?" Raven asked softly.

Spero opened her eyes, renewed with a strange glow about them. "I decided to modify some memory compositions, and set them for a much earlier time period. That way, they would have no knowledge of the time spent before their eventual murder. And, it would allow the time-line to progress normally, without re-writing any more history than I already had."

"What was the catch?" BeastBoy asked.

"Excuse me?" Spero asked.

BeastBoy actually stood as he spoke this time. "I don't know squat about time travel or incisions or any of that junk. But messing around with history must be a bad idea; Starfire can vouch for that. So if what you say is true, you would have had to do…_something _to make sure that the universe and everything in it doesn't go BOOM. Am I right?"

Spero looked taken-aback by how articulate BeastBoy was, but it passed quickly. Answering this question was going to take some finesse. She took another deep breath and continued.

"In order to facilitate this transition, I had to use a considerable amount of my power to create a 'Faux Plane'. People, locations, events, personalities, the basic characteristics of this world and its natural occurrences…all needed to be falsified. In this way, I was able to create a suitable world, removed from the actual one, in which they could exist peaceably. The flow of time would move in-sync with the real Earth, but would be incapable of interacting with it directly. For all intents and purposes, this world _would _be real…and yet, false." Spero explained.

BeastBoy sat again, and looked at Raven in puzzlement. "That was all fascinating, really, but would you mind breaking it down into bite-sized chunks so I can swallow…"

BeastBoy stopped talking when he saw they look on Ravens face. It startled him.

"What? What is it?" He asked.

Raven's normally stoic expression had melted into one of distrust and wariness. Her voice was just as suspicious. "We don't know you! How do you know us?!"

BB felt even more anxious upon hearing her tone of voice. "Whoa, Rae, slow down! What are you talking about? Of course she doesn't know us. It's not like she created a different world for complete strangers…"

He stopped in mid thought. Oftentimes, BeastBoy found it difficult to complete more than one task at a time, even if it was just in his head. But as the subtle clues began to form shapes, ideas and epiphanies in his head, he suddenly found it difficult to speak. His tongue was still, as was his outstretched hand.

It made sense now, and yet, like the world around him, it just didn't seem real.

"You _made _this…" BeastBoy said, waving his hands around his head as he spoke to Spero, "_all _of this, for…us?"

Spero was still, but for her solemn, nodding head. "Yes."

"Why?" Raven demanded, a bit flustered at her realization. "We don't know who you are; we've never seen you before today. And who murdered us? I have no memory of being killed because you altered those memories, right? So tell me: who killed us? And why would you create a fake world to save two people who've never even heard of you before?"

For the first time since Spero had revealed her true form to the titans, Spero looked thoroughly resigned. She barely floated above the floor, and her aura was the least intimidating it had ever been. But even though she barely whispered her response, the words themselves nearly made Raven comatose.

"There really isn't anything I WOULDN'T do for you…mom."

"…!..."

BeastBoy watched as the wind was, not simply _emptied _from Raven's sails, but _kicked _out with a stick of TNT. Her balled-up fists relaxed into putty-filled fingers, and her rigid posture liquidated into the couch. BeastBoy was reminded of a Popsicle sitting out in the sun, slowly, gracefully melting away under the gentle heat. It was a bit freaky, but BeastBoy knew better than to open his mouth now.

"M-…mom?" Raven said, barely able to find her voice.

Spero twisted her hands in her lap, looking a bit flushed as she nodded again. She couldn't speak.

Raven's voice was choppy and choked. She was doing her best not to let the flood-gates open. "I'm you…YOUR …mother?"

Spero gave a tiny, almost embarrassed smile, and shrugged, answering the best she could.

"Yes."

BeastBoy didn't like how Raven seemed to be vibrating in place as she sat and tried to process this new information. "Raven, are you alright?"

Raven took a few breaths, though she didn't exactly calm down. If anything, she seemed very alert, almost sweating with energy. "Yeah, I think so. It's just that…well…I never expected to live past my last birthday, and now…I'm learning that I have a _daughter_…in her mid-twenties, of all things! I'm not sure how I'm supposed to react to this…I'm not familiar with these feelings and it's a lot to take in…"

She trailed off in her own tears, looking even more distressed, which had an immediate effect on BeastBoy. He knelt at her side and tried to console her, not daring to touch her for fear of how she might react. "Hey, hey, it's OK. Just…I don't know…count backwards from ten, or whatever helps you relax. It is a lot to process."

Spero seemed to have regained a bit of her confidence, and spoke casually. "She'll be alright. She always bounces back from things like this."

BeastBoy turned sharply, like a cat would if its tail had been pulled. He didn't appreciate Spero's tone, and no matter how powerful she might be, he wouldn't stand for it when one of his friends was like this. His pupils narrowed into vertical slits, as if he was about to morph into something very large with pointy teeth.

"I swear, if you're _lying _to us…!" he warned, a deep snarl in his throat.

Spero settled herself, and reasserted her formal tone. "I intended no disrespect. But I meant what I said: she always recovers from stuff like this. You should know that."

"BeastBoy, it's alright…" Raven started with a calmer voice, but BeastBoy was preoccupied.

"Here's what I know:" BeastBoy continued, his eyes and body still flickering on the verge of a battle-morph, "you created a new world around us, falsely impersonated our friends, and basically lied to us about everything for the past…who knows how long. And now, you drop a bomb on Raven's head—which may or may not be true—and expect us to go with the flow. I'm sorry, but playing around with history, _and_ our heads, stops here. Don't lie to us any more, got it?"

Spero bristled, and she stood up in one swift motion, spooking both teens for a moment. She stood at her full height, and though she didn't yell, her presence displayed its own volume.

"I'm not lying! I've never lied to you in my entire life, and I don't plan on starting now…dad." She said.

"…!..."

BeastBoy felt about as ferocious as a pygmy shrew. His accusing finger drooped like his ears, and his hands and feet felt hot, as if he were about to jump off of a diving board into a pool of wet cement. The feeling of all his anger and pride dripping out of his body through some unseen hole in his bravado made him feel strangely bewildered, and deeply under-informed.

"Come again?" he said.

Spero seemed to pour herself back onto the floor, never really moving, except for the perpetual up-draft that her hair seemed to be in. When she finally settled, she rested her chin in her hands, leaning forward as if exhausted. Her voice was just as deflated.

"You heard me." She said.

BeastBoy swung his head back to Raven, who was also sporting a 'Did she just say what I THINK she just said?' look. Her head tilted a bit, and her eyes were just as big as BeastBoy's. She looked at him curiously for a moment, before BeastBoy turned back to Spero, his façade unchanged.

Spero raised her head a bit and nodded slightly. "Yes. That's how it is."

BeastBoy looked back to Raven, and then to Spero again. He continued this for a minute or so, his ears making little THWIP-THWIP sounds as he looked back and forth between the two women. Raven thought he was going to give himself whiplash at this rate. When BeastBoy finally spoke to Spero, his voice was shaky and thin.

"You mean I'm…?" he started.

Spero nodded again, a bit somberly. "My father."

BeastBoy seemed to pale even more. "And Raven is…?"

Spero shrugged, almost apologetically. "My mother."

BeastBoy looked as if he were made of pure chlorophyll as he pointed to Raven and then himself.

"Which makes us…?"

Spero put her fingers to her temples to massage the growing tension away. "My parents…as wells as Husband and Wife."

BeastBoy's complexion changed dramatically for a moment, from pale green to an almost comical collection of red and pine; he was a living Christmas ornament for a moment as something rather devious dawned on him. He looked at Spero like the cat that swallowed the canary.

"Which means…that _she _and _I_...?"

_**WHA-**_**BAMMMM!**

Even Spero didn't fully catch it. BeastBoy seemed to have been booted out of his seat, flung across the room, and slammed into the wall, plastered upside down and nearly as flat as a crepe. He was held there for a second by a shimmer of glowing black energy, before being released, and sliding slowly to the ground, to crumple in a heap.

He raised one finger from his discarded and damaged body, his voice barely audible. "OK… (Cough)…I think I deserved that."

Raven looked positively _murderous_. Her face was stretched thin over her skull, and her eye-brow twitched with such severity that it threatened to spring away from her forehead and attack BeastBoy on its own. Her breathing was hoarse and her eyes refused to blink, even though her face was red enough to bring rush-hour traffic to a standstill. One would almost expect fangs to peak out from between her lips.

"You're _LUCKY _I didn't send you to the MOON!" Raven hissed, her anger flaring all around her.

Spero leaned her head to one side, shaking it a bit as she looked at the mass of mangled flesh that was BeastBoy. "Smooth, dad…_real_ smooth."

After a minute or so, BeastBoy collected himself and returned to the couch, but staying on the far end of it this time. Giving Raven her bubble was probably best right now, and since he valued the fact that his body was still in one piece after all that, he thought it best not to tempt fate.

"You're right, you're right, bad idea." He said, rubbing his jaw as he spoke. "I should have thought that one through."

"That'll be the day…" Raven fumed, turning her head away.

"Do you two mind?" Spero asked, her voice a bit more forcefully than before.

The two teens still looked dubious, though one was certainly more bruised than the other now. Both looked carefully at Spero, their glances probing and distrustful. All this information was delivered rather swiftly. They seemed to be biding their time before asking questions again.

"I can see that you don't fully trust what I have told you." Spero said, her countenance one of a displeased school-teacher.

"Would _you?_" Raven asked.

Spero chuckled at that. "No. But I suppose I inherited my apprehension and attentiveness to detail from you. I don't trust easily either."

"I wanted to name you after a cartoon character?" BeastBoy said, raising his own brow.

Spero seemed to blush a bit, a startling contrast to her milky skin. "Yes. Apparently, I reminded you of something from your childhood when I was born. But, mother wouldn't have it. Eleison was probably for the best."

BeastBoy had to laugh at that. "Figures. She named you after something I can barely pronounce."

Both women gave him a rather serious, drilling look, to which he raised his hands and gave a hangdog-grin. "Beautiful name, though. Reminds me of uh…a bird…heh-heh…"

"Why should we believe you?" Raven said, trying to remain on-subject. "If you are as powerful as you say, couldn't you be trying to re-fabricate something else for us in this world? To keep us from the truth?"

Even Spero seemed to be no match for her 'mother's' intensity. She shrank a little as she replied. "I just told you the most damning piece of information. Why would I keep anything else from you now?"

"Fine," BeastBoy said, calling Spero on her words, "then answer Raven's earlier question: who killed us? And why?"

Spero wasn't expecting that. Or at least, she didn't look like she had been expecting it. Her shoulders pulled back a bit in what could have been apprehension, but it was difficult to tell with a deity, since, for all they knew, that's exactly what Spero was.

"It's a very long story…" Spero said. "And I'm…not sure how I am supposed tell it, actually."

"From the beginning would be nice." Raven said matter-of-factly. "Wherever that beginning might be."

Spero looked even more apprehensive, almost fearful. "You won't like it. It will probably cause you more pain than comfort, truth or not."

"That's not for you to decide. Now can you tell us or not?" BeastBoy asked, sounding suddenly grown up.

Spero thought. For a long while, she thought and thought about how she would proceed. After nearly ten minutes of silence, both titans were becoming a bit antsy (which meant a lot from Raven's perspective), and looked about ready to pop from their seats like soda-bottles.

But Spero finally settled on a solution. "Telling you would take a very long time. But SHOWING you…that just might be the right approach."

Both titans immediately settled. "_Show _us?" Raven asked.

"Yes." Spero confirmed. "Memory transfer isn't an easy process, and it is a bit fragmented, but I should be able to show you the primary stanzas. That would trigger a memory Coda: the rest should fall into place for you."

BeastBoy was confused, but shook his head and decided not to argue the point. "OK, fine, great, whatever. How do we do this, before my head pops?"

"You…the both of you…come here." Spero gestured.

Raven and BeastBoy hesitantly moved forward, dismounting the couch and walking the short distance to the imposing and far taller woman. At first, she seemed to be inviting the two titans in for a hug, her arms spread wide and her hands upturned. It was a friendly-looking gesture, but the constant swirl of energy around this woman made both titans apprehensive. She stopped them at arms length.

"I warn you," Spero said, "that if I do this, and it works, you'll retain all the memories before and up to the time of your…death. Every thought, every interaction, every sensation will be a vivid as if you were actually experiencing them again. The process will be accelerated, and it will most likely be somewhat abrasive. I'm not sure how the time-stream will afflict you in a super-compressed feed."

Raven took a deep breath. "We'll deal with it. What do _we _have to do during this?"

Spero assumed a much more placid look. "Oh, that's easy. You two just have to hold hands with me."

"Sounds simple enough." BeastBoy said.

"And each other." Spero clarified.

Both teens halted their hands in mid air, and looked at each other. The little crack that BeastBoy had made earlier was still fresh in Raven's mind, and BeastBoy was well aware of how long it took Raven to shake a grudge.

"Is it really necessary?" Raven asked, making BeastBoy recoil just a bit.

"Yes. While your individual memories are your own, they are also inextricably linked to each other as well. Without both of you to complete this Memory Triad, it will be next to impossible for a full recollection." Spero explained.

BeastBoy could tell that Raven still wasn't too hot on the idea. He could tell by her slanted eyes and peeved tone of voice.

"I really am sorry." BeastBoy said after a minute, in a soft and friendly voice. "But she broadsided me with that little bit of info back there. I reacted…poorly."

She still didn't look up. Her face was down-turned and her arms folded.

BeastBoy felt exposed and lonely, but pressed on. "I shouldn't have made light of something like that. She threw you with that little tid-bit of info and I...just made it more awkward. I was wrong...please, don't hate me for putting my foot in my mouth...again."

Raven looked at him for a moment, then to the floor. BeastBoy was about to try something else when he felt very delicate fingers intertwine with his right hand, squeezing it softly. BeastBoy responded with a gentle squeeze of his own, and grinned a bit at his friend.

"You're still a jerk." Raven said, looking straight ahead, her hair covering part of her face. BeastBoy could make out the faintest hint of a smile.

"Yeah. But, apparently, I'm _your _jerk." BeastBoy said, smiling broadly.

"Not _yet_ you're not." Raven said, her voice tasting of caveat.

"Ahem?" Spero said, getting the titan's attention.

"Sorry." BeastBoy said.

"I have to concentrate on my temporal harmonics." Spero instructed, taking Raven's right hand and BeastBoy's left in her own. "For the time being, I need you two to hold on, both to me and each other. It's been a while since I've done this…with the living, I mean."

Before either teen could respond, the 'color' of the air—for lack of a better word—began to change. From all sides, BeastBoy and Raven could feel a constriction of some kind, as if static electricity were passing over their skin. Raven's hair began to stand up, as did BeastBoy's, caught in an unseen vortex of energy. There was no wind, per say, but there was a definite pressure all around them. It felt as if a tropical storm was brewing.

"Is it too late to take the blue pill?" BeastBoy said, a bit freaked at what he was experiencing. Before Raven could scold him, however, Spero did the most peculiar thing.

She began to sing.

'_My goodness,' _Raven thought, looking at her 'daughter' with a perplexed admiration. _'It's…beautiful.'_

Indeed it was. Spero opened her mouth with a resonating note of the purest alto Raven had ever heard. It poured over her skin and clothing, thick as honey, and into her ears. She then switched to a more lyrical series of soprano chords, looping in and out of the human vocal range. At times, the music seemed to pierce both titans, arching in and around them like a spring breeze. Raven found her eyes closing in time with BeastBoy's, allowing the beautiful, haunting melody to fill her to the brim, until she felt ready to burst.

At the apex of this serenade, Spero hit a note of impossible intensity, high and aching with what felt like sorrow. As Raven and BeastBoy closed their eyes completely, they caught sight of Spero enveloped in fiery aura, before her song shut their minds to this world and hurled them to another.

_To be Continued…Soon..._


End file.
